World Enough
by Draco's Secret Lover
Summary: Someone is using again, but Chase's gone, right? And across the sea an ancient evil has been awoken. Can the boys handle finding out that magic exists beyond what they'd imagined and can they join with new friends to fight the evil? HP Xover, bad summary.
1. Prologue

Roses are red, Violets are blue.

The Covenant's not mine, so I'm too sad to rhyme.

Oh, no, wait...

_**

* * *

World Enough**_

Prologue

The world around him was blistering hot and smoky, but the night was quiet and still. He supposed it was around eleven, but he couldn't see his watch. Deciding not to wait any longer, he stood.

From an outsiders view, it would have seemed terribly strange, the way the charred wood and ashes suddenly rose up and scattered of their own accord, but there was no one around to see.

He brushed ash from his invisible body and let his protective shield drop. The shield had kept his body from burning, but it had also been large enough that had he moved while the firemen were there, he would've been noticed.

Finally, sure that he was really totally alone, he let his body shimmer back into existence.

He surveyed the damaged barn and checked in the superficial wounds he's received from his fight.

The fight he should've easily won. Angrily, he threw ropes of energy from his hands and tore up a few nearby pines and decimated the split rail fence.

Feeling slightly better, he quickly left town.

He had to see someone about a Source.

- - - - -

Thousands of miles away, across an ocean, a boy with messy black hair and green eyes awoke suddenly from a strange dream.

* * *

So, what did everyone think? Decent start? I've got chapter one done, but it needs editing, so it may be up tonight, or maybe not till tomorrow, and chapter two is started, so that shouldn't be long either.

I pretty much know where I want to go with this, but if anyone has any suggestions, things they'd like to see, characters they'd like to insert, let me know!

Please, read and review!


	2. 1 Jam Side Down

First of all, Covenant? Not mine.

And second, thank you to my four lovely reviewers:

**RedRogue** -I didn't come up with this one on my own. The idea can be partially credited to a thread on the imdb covenant boards!

**Wickedmoemoe **-I will try to update often, but I can't commit to a set schedule. Pairings I'm considering are Tyler/Hermione, Ron/OC, Ginny, Harry, Reid/ probably multiple OC's, Pogue/Kate, and Caleb?. The first part was Harry's dream of Chase getting out of the burning barn, but I think of it more in the present than in the past.

**Darkest Reflection **-Give Harry a little credit, though! While I think their amount of raw power is greater than his, Harry and the others in the wizarding world have a lot more knowledge of what their magic can do, and they don't have to worry about aging with use.

**Karakin** -That one was especially short cause it was just the prologue. I'll try and make them all be longer form here on out.

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* * *

World Enough**_

Chapter One- Jam Side Down

It was late, but Reid didn't care. It wasn't like he planned on attending classes anyway. And besides, this had been Tyler's idea anyway. Kind of.

The younger boy had suggested going to some party the students had been buzzing about for a few days, but he had really meant that they go and come back around midnight.

Definitely not go, get really drunk, pick up a couple girls, take them for a ride in his Hummer, then take them home (in the next town over!), and wait for Reid to emerge from his 'dates' bedroom before finally heading home at 6 am.

But Reid didn't care. He'd gotten lucky with that little brunette, and would've stayed out till the cows came home if that's what it would've taken.

"Do you even remember her name?"

"Huh?" Reid asked. Tyler was startled. He was half asleep and didn't realize he'd spoken. He blinked.

"Do you even remember her name?"

Reid gave him a funny look. "Why? I'm not gonna call her again, and she knows it. She lives too far away."

Tyler sighed. Reid had a terrible reputation, one that he earned every bit of, and he still managed to get all the girls.

"You're an ass."

"Shut up, Ty. Jus cause you didn't get none-"

"I'm not like you Reid. Not a one-night-stand kinda guy." The two boys rode in silence for a while, and then Reid spoke again, quietly.

"Clarissa."

"What?" Tyler asked.

"Her name was Clarissa, and the one you were hangin with was Joanie. They're juniors and they play soccer together, and she wouldn't gimme her number cause she said she already knew all about me."

There was silence the rest of the way back to Spenser.

* * *

Everything was chaos in the Great Hall. Apparently, at dinner, Sybil Trelawney had Seen a small contingent of Death Eaters attacking a school. At first, it was assumed to be Hogwarts, and everyone panicked, save Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, and a select few others. They, the three teachers, quickly questioned the Seer until she reassured them that the attack was taking place somewhere in America.

Dumbledore summoned a Penseive and Trelawney recorded her vision into it moments before fainting and having to be levitated to the hospital wing.

Leaving McGonagall to the daunting task of calming the students (and a few of the other Professors) and sending them to their common rooms, Dumbledore and Snape immersed themselves in the memory.

It was a bit fuzzy and segmented, like most visions were, but they could tell a few things for certain right away.

Firstly, Sybil had been correct about it being in America- everyone had an accent.

Second, the clock read 1:23, and assuming that meant pm since the kids were in class, they knew they had roughly three hours to determine where the Death Eaters were and why they were attacking.

Third, all the students were wearing a school uniform with a patch on the jacket that read 'Spenser Academy.' That would narrow the search immensely.

Fourth, while everything and everyone had fuzzy edges, and when they moved, they left a blurry trail, as if they were moving very fast, there were three boys sitting off to the left that were in perfect focus. Two were talking together, and the third had an arm thrown across the back of a blurry-edged girl's chair.

And finally, they saw what had frightened poor Professor Trelawney so. There was a small explosion of sorts in the back of the room, and through the clearing dust and smoke, they could plainly see at least a half-dozen Death Eaters.

Exiting the memory, Dumbledore went to his office and summoned all the teachers to meet in the conference room.

There, he told them he'd be going away for a short while, and that he would most certainly return within a couple hours. He reassured them that Sybil's vision alluded to no danger to Hogwarts, however just to be on the safe side, all outside classes, practices and detentions were to be rescheduled for another night.

Leaving them to their rescheduling, he went back to his office, donned a traveling cloak, and walked down to the gates. Once outside the grounds, he apparated to a street in muggle London. To the average person, he would've looked quite strange, with his long beard and hair, plum-colored ground-sweeping robes, and odd smile, but fortunately anyone that happened to catch a glimpse thought they must've been imagining it, for as soon as he appeared, he stepping into a building they couldn't see and was gone again.

Dumbledore stepped quietly through the main hall, past the sleeping portrait, and entered the kitchen. "Hello Remus, Nymphadora. Where is everyone?"

Remus Lupin choked slightly into his coffee cup and Nymphadora Tonks dropped her toast onto the floor, where it landed jam side down. She waved her wand and the mess disappeared, and then she nodded to Dumbledore before running to gather everyone to the dining room. Dumbledore hadn't sent word that he was coming, so something had to be up.

"Morning, Albus," Remus said, slightly recovered. "Nothings wrong, is there?"

"Not immediately or locally." Remus' shoulders relaxed. "Tell me, you spent some time in America, yes?"

"I did. After-," his voice faltered. "After Peter framed Sirius, I wandered from place to place. I was in Salem for a spell, and I stopped in Witchhaven for a few months. Why?"

"How would you like to make a return trip?" Dumbledore grinned, and left the room, a confused Remus Lupin trailing behind him.

"Back? Why?"

"Let's wait for everyone to assemble." The others were taking seats around the long table. Already seated were Mundungus Fletcher, Molly Weasley (who had taken to spending her days there, rather than in the empty Burrow), Nymphadora Tonks, Robin Gerritsen (a middle-aged blond witch from Sussex), Tess White (a dark-skinned witch from parts unknown), and Clinton Falls (an attractive young wizard from northern Ireland). A few others straggled in, and Dumbledore began.

"Less than an hour ago, a Seer notified me of a Death Eater attack that will take place at a school called Spenser Academy. It is expected to happen at 7:23 this evening, our time, and we know that the school is somewhere in the eastern half of America. We deduced from the vision that there are at least six Death Eaters involved, possibly more, and the target seems to be three boys." From an inside pocket of his cloak, he pulled out three sheets of parchment. "We were able to pull the boys' faces from her memory and fix them here."

He paused to glance at the pictures before passing them down the table. All the boys were wearing the uniform jacket and looked to be somewhere between 16 and 19 years old. Two of them had shorter hair and one of them longer. The two with the shorter hair had worried expressions that seemed to age them slightly.

"Albus," said Robin, "who are these boys? Why are the Death Eaters after them?"

"Excellent questions, and ones that I hope to learn the answer to as soon as someone goes and retrieves them."

"Retrieve..." Remus trailed off. "Is that why you asked me if I'd go back?"

"Certainly, and I thank you for volunteering." Remus' jaw dropped and he sputtered incoherently. Dumbledore ignored him. "How about we get two more volunteers for a retrieval team, someone get started on locating this 'Spenser Academy,' and then Clinton, you can sort out travel arrangements for the return trip. Something muggle, but fast. We don't know why they're after these boys, but we do know that Spenser is a muggle school, so they won't be acquainted with magical traveling."

Clinton nodded, a lock of dark hair falling across his forehead. "I'll charter a private jet."

Tonks quickly said she'd go to America with Remus, and after a moment to see if anyone else would step up, Tess did too.

Robin, Molly, and Divinah Cumulus (one of the latecomers) offered to locate the school. Robin, who was useful to the Order since she was particularly well-versed in muggle customs, thought that she could use the 'internet' to find the school. Molly and Divinah went along too, because there was safety in numbers. Also, Molly needed something to occupy herself with and Divinah wanted to see this 'internet.'

Remus and Tonks went upstairs together and looked in the supply closet. They would each pack an emergency bag, and then shrink it down and pocket it. That way, if anything went terribly wrong, they'd have a little something to fall back on. The bag would contain, among other things, a few changes of clothes, a heavy cloak and boots, several Ready-Meals (fully cooked meals that were magicked into a small cardboard box. Upon tapping with a wand and a short incantation, a witch or wizard can have a hot meal in seconds), a first-aid kit, and a small vial of invisibility potion. This potion was to be used only as a last resort. It was difficult to brew, and highly addictive. Wizards in the past had been known to take it daily until eventually, people realized that each time they used it, the effects would last for longer and longer. A few people had disappeared entirely, never to been seen again. Only heard from.

After their bags were readied, they changed into more appropriate clothing. Since they'd be in the muggle world, they each chose to wear dark- colored jeans and black boots. Tonks donned a neon-green long-sleeved t-shirt and a metal studded belt. She completed the look with silver dangly lightening bolt earrings and, after closing her eyes and concentrating briefly, she sported matching green eyes and shoulder length black hair with a green streak on either side of her face.

Remus chose a gray sweatshirt and rolled his eyes at the metamorph.

Clinton returned as they were coming down the stairs and Tess walked in from a back hallway. She was wearing the same clothes she had been- cream colored pants, a heavy white wool jumper, brown boots, and a heavy brown pendant around her neck. Her thick dark hair was pulled back into an elegant ponytail.

She carried her wand in one hand, and her cloak in the other.

Clinton nodded his head towards the door to the library, and the party went inside. "As soon as I know which airport to send him to, I'll have a friend in the States ready to pick you up."

Tonks excitedly asked about the jet, and Clinton, with decreasing levels of patience, explained it to her three times, and was describing the interior for a fourth time when they heard the front door open.

Three sets of footsteps came tiptoeing across the foyer and Remus opened the door to let Robin, Molly, and Divinah in. Robin was carrying a computer print-out.

"Ipswich." She announced. "Ipswich, Massachusetts."

* * *

Walking tiredly up the steps, Tyler dropped his book bag and sat next to Caleb in English. Usually, he sat with Reid, but Reid was still not in class. "Hey Tyler. Where's Reid?"

"Sleepin. Up all night again."

"Where?"

"Party, then some girls place."

"You with him?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I felt someone Using again. Stongly. Late, maybe 1?"

"Not either of us. Have you asked Pogue?"

"Actually, he asked me. I was picking up my phone to call when it rang."

Tyler bit his lip and Caleb nervously folded a page from his notebook. The last time this had happened, a psycho had shown up trying to steal Caleb's power. That was six months ago, and Caleb wasn't the only one ascended now.

Pogue has his 18th in October, and then Reid in December. Tyler's birthday was less than a week away. "He wouldn't come back now, even if he did survive, would he?" Caleb asked. "He has no chance against all of us, right?"

"No way. Especially not after Thursday." Thursday was Tyler's birthday. He would ascend at 3:47 PM, which meant that he'd have to skip swim practice or there would be a lot of difficult questions.

They didn't have time to talk again until much later, for at that moment, the rear wall of the classroom exploded.

* * *

Okay, so read and review!

Here's something that might make some of you review...Are there any Ron Weasley fans reading this? How'd you like the chance to be his girlfriend? I'm taking volunteers to be a Gryffindor girl in Ginny's year, who he will begin to date soon. Any takers?

Also, I think that I'll have Reid be a player and mess around with several girls. Any volunteers for that one?

Drop me a review and I'll PM you!


	3. 2 Screaming

Once again, let me reassure you that I don't own The Covenant, because if I did, I think the movie would have been much more detailed. I may also have let the locker room scene carry on for a bit longer...

And I just realized that since I failed to implicitly state my non-ownership of Harry Potter and all related characters, places, things, and nouns in general, that some of you may have been operating under the assumption that I, Draco's Secret Lover, was in fact the great J.K. Rowling in disguise. I assure you that that is not, in fact, the truth. I am not now, nor have I ever been a successful English author.

For those lovely 3 reviewers of chapter 2, and the one new reviewer for chapter 1: Krakin, animefanqueen, Marah, and Eva.

I thank you very, very much.

* * *

_**World Enough**_

_Chapter Two- Screaming_

"All ready," asked Molly Weasley. "Bags in your pockets, you've got the pictures?"

"Yes, Molly. We're all set." Remus tried to reassure her, but poor Molly was nervous and scared. She always was when Death Eaters were involved.

Dumbledore patted her shoulder. "Here, Molly. Would you be a dear and make an old man a cup of tea?"

Molly nodded and scurried off, thankful to have something else to think about for a moment. When the door had swung shit behind her, Dumbledore continued. "Remus, Ladies. Robin informed me the name of the town you are heading to, and I wanted to speak with you. You're going to Ipswich, as you know. Does that name seem familiar to you?"

"Vaguely. Like a name I read in a book," offered Remus.

"You probably heard it from our esteemed Professor Binns. You see, Ipswich was the name of the colony founded by the Cursed Covenant after they fled England. Not much has been heard from them over all this time, but it is assumed that the curse placed on their magic is still carried, and if I am correct, the three young men the Death Eaters are after must be the remaining descendants of the original Covenant members."

"Do you think the boys are aware of this?"

"Oh, quite probably, yes. The magic in the blood of those family lines was strong, and I doubt very seriously that it would have produced many squibs at all. I'd wager that at very least, one of them has the powers."

Remus nodded. "Then we cannot let You-Know-Who have access to that."

Dumbledore reached into his pocket and pulled out a velvet box. Opening it, he revealed a silver bangle. "Here is your Portkey. Upon arrival, I'd be much obliged if you would take care not to lose it. I do like it so, but I couldn't find any suitable garbage to enchant. You should arrive just outside the classroom door." He looked at the time. "All set, then?" They nodded. "Best be off. The attack will begin in less than five minutes."

Tonks, Remus, and Tess reached out and each curled two fingers around the heavy bracelet. A hook grabbed them behind their navels and they were gone, spinning through space.

"Good luck," Dumbledore said after they'd gone, then he left the room to find his cup of tea.

* * *

"I just wish someone would tell me what's going on!" Harry fumed. He was pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room. 

They'd been there for three hours now, ever since McGonnagall had ushered them out of the great hall. Harry had waited there for about a half hour, and then he had run out, determined to find Dumbledore and be allowed to do something. McGonagall had intercepted him at the stone gargoyle, trying to guess the password. She'd marched him right back to the common room.

For two hours after that, Harry had been pacing, waiting for 7 o'clock to roll around, because he had been given a detention the day before. This particular detention (caused mostly by Draco Malfoy) was to be served with Hagrid. Harry was anxious to do to detention, because he was fairly certain that he could talk Hagrid into telling him what was going on, when a notice appeared on the bulletin board. The notice whistled loudly to get everyone's attention, and then it announced that all of the evening's detentions would be re-scheduled, along with the club meetings and practices ("All right!" Ron shouted. "Now the Ravenclawes won't get their last practice in before our match!"), and the evenings classes, to Hermione's horror.

"Oh, no!" She exclaimed. "I had astronomy at eleven! This was the best night for weeks to see Uranus!" Ron snickered and Harry's face turned slightly red. Hermione didn't notice. "It won't be as clear again for _months_!"

Thusly, Harry had begun pacing, and he hadn't stopped yet. Ron had given up completely on settling him down, and was currently across the room playing a loud game of Gobstones with Dean, Seamus, Ginny, and one of her friends, Colleen O'Collens.

Hermione was reading from an enormous, musty, old tome that covered her entire lap. She sighed. "Sit down, Harry. Wearing out the carpet won't help anything."

"But I can help! I've got to do something. Tell Dumbledore about those dreams-"

"Harry! Sit, right now," Hermione said sharply/ Startled at her tone, he did so. "Have you been having those dreams again?" She stared him down, and he gulped. Her eyes narrowed. He hadn't meant to reveal that. He had been studying occlumency, trying to strengthen his mind against Voldemort's intrusions. These intrusions came almost _always_ in the form of dreams, though he could also feel strong surges of emotion.

Last year, he had started taking these Occlumency lessons with Professor Snape, but it was disastrous. Harry and Snape had let their mutual dislike override the need for Harry to master Occlumency, and Voldemort had delighted in sending Harry terrible dream messages. At first, Harry had wanted these dreams, however, in the end, everything went terribly, terribly wrong one night when Harry interpreted one of the messages sent purposefully by Voldemort as something like a prophetic dream, and had run off to the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic. Several people, including some of his classmates, were badly injured, and Sirius Black, Harry's godfather and friend, had died.

After that horrible summer, when he had returned to school, Harry had started Occlumency lessons again, this time vowing not to let anything get in the way of them. His resolve had begun to chip away after the second one, where Snape had forced his way into Harry's mind and laughed at some of the things that he found there. Later, when Harry had again managed to block Snape and enter his mind instead, Snape had become doubly cruel afterwards.

And the dreams had started again.

The ones he'd been having lately had centered around a strange boy Harry'd never seen before. The boy was about Harry's age, maybe a little older, and in the first dream, he's appeared in the middle of a smoldering pile of rubble.

Another had come a few nights later, with the same boy, but this time he was working wandless magic. Another had featured the boy torturing others for information, about what Harry didn't know.

There had been a few others that Harry barely remembered, all leaving him with a vague feeling of unease and lingering malevolence.

The most recent one had come the night before. Unlike the others, Voldemort had been in this one, having an audience with the boy. They were speaking of an ancient power, and four boys who have it. The boy showed Voldemort how he could conjure a ball of destructive energy in his bare hand.

Harry had awoken from that dream with a strange thrill of excitement in his stomach. After a moment, he realized that he was channeling Voldemort's emotions still. Squeezing his eyes shut and concentrating, he managed to sever the link.

He'd not mentioned the dreams, not wanting to worry his friends more than he knew they already were. Now thinking of the events that took place in the Great Hall this evening, Harry thought perhaps he should've mentioned them. At least to the Headmaster.

Remembering that Hermione was still eyeing him, he admitted that he had, in fact, had a few more. "What were they about?" Hermione asked, concern plainly etched across her face.

Feeling sorry for scaring her, Harry told her. When he got to the one last night, she clapped a hand to her mouth and gasped. "Oh, Harry! You've got to owl Professor Dumbledore right away!"

"He left. McGonagall told me so earlier. He could be anywhere, even fighting those Death Eaters right now."

"Then call Dobby. He can leave a message for Dumbledore in his office." Hermione looked so sure about this plan, that Harry decided that it was a good idea. He nodded, and she reached into her ever-present book bag and pulled out a fresh piece of parchment and a self-inking quill. Harry thought for a moment, and then began to write.

* * *

Remus, Tonks, and Tess landed next to a garbage can set into an alcove in the wall. Trying to catch her balance, Tonks, notoriously clumsy, threw out an arm and grabbed the can instead of the wall. It tumbled over with her, and she found herself in a pile of old notes, candy bar wrappers, broken pencils, and days-old assignments. Grinning up at them, she said, "Oops!" 

Remus reached out a hand to pull her to her feet, and Tess righted the can with a flick of her wand. She banished the trash from the floor, and the three took note of their surroundings. They were in a long hallway, full of closed doors. From inside the closest room, they could see a Professor taking roll. Through the window in the room across from that one, they could see students working, possibly taking a test. Neither classroom contained their mystery boys.

Remus looked at his watch. 1:22. Just then, they heard a loud crash from a room another door down. That had to be what they were here for.

In three steps, they were tearing the door open, wands at the ready.

And they were met with utter silence, and about two dozen wide-eyed stares.

Two students were bent down, re-stacking a large pile of books and the teacher was holding a metal shelf that had fallen.

Quickly, they hid their wands and backed out. "Sorry, wrong room?" Tonks offered, as an explanation.

Red-faced, they looked at each other. Perhaps the day was wrong, or there was more than one Spencer Academy?

Then a boy hurried past them. He had a backpack slung over one shoulder and he entered a room back on the other side of the garbage can. They stared after him for a moment, and then Tess pulled out the pictures of the three boys. He was definitely one of them. Remus looked at his watch. 1:24.

They repositioned themselves outside of the boys' classroom and listened hard. Tess tried to peek through the window, but someone was standing in the way. She couldn't tell for sure that the other two boys were there. They waited for five more minutes, and then looked at one another again.

"Well," started Remus. "Should we stay or should we go? It's... 1:30, and nothing is happening." Down the hall, they could see a teacher coming.

"We should leave the building before someone becomes suspicious. We will send message to headquarters and scout the grounds. Perhaps it was a false vision, or-" Tess cut off.

All of the sudden from inside the classroom came the unmistakable sounds of a wall being blown apart. Remus took a half-second to recall the other noise and be slightly embarrassed, before instinct took over and he charged into the room.

Kids were screaming and running. Clouds of dust were obscuring their vision as the stumbled down the stairs, and debris littered the floor.

The teacher was trying to stay as calm as possible, and was shouting over the noise for everyone to stay calm and move into the hallway.

Someone tripped over something and fell to the ground, knocking a girl down with him.

Standing together, looking towards the gaping hole, were the three boys they'd come for. Unlike everyone else, they weren't running or screaming. They weren't panicking.

They were waiting.

'Have they been expecting this,' Remus thought to himself as he pushed his way up the aisle towards them.

Tonks and Tess were making way towards the opening where the first of the Death Eaters were stepping through. He saw the colored flash of stunning spells and the Death Eaters fell to the ground. The next two attempting to come through the hole tripped over them. If the situation hadn't been so serious, it would have been quite comical. Now finally on the same level of seats as the boys, he made his way down the row. One of them was holding something in his hand. Remus had never seen anything like it before.

It was like liquid, the way it moved, but at the same time a solid, for it held itself into a spherical shape. He could practically _taste_ the power that was rolling off of the boy in waves, and it left a heady feeling in his stomach that he didn't understand. He had never _felt_ anyone do magic before.

He reached them, and they spun to face him. The one with the... thing in his hand made a move as if to throw it at him, but Remus was ready for it and put a full body-bind spell on him. The other two, the boy from the hallway and the long-haired boy, were shocked when their friend just fell to the floor.

"Boys, please! I meant you no harm! I'm here to take you somewhere safe from those men in the masks." Remus pointed towards the hole in the wall and the two boys looked. Tonks and Tess were easily holding their own, especially since the size of the hole made it so that only about four Death Eaters could be trying to go through it at once.

To someone who had never seen a magical battle before, all of the spells and curses shooting through the air must've been nearly overwhelming, but the two boys in front of him were hardly fazed.

The long haired boy turned and spoke. "What have you done to Caleb?"

That must've been the one on the floor. "It's a simple spell, a body-bind. I didn't want him to throw that... thing at me. He can see and hear everything that is going on, and I will remove it now, to show good faith." A stray spell came flying at him, and he ducked just in time.

The Death Eaters had managed to enlarge the hole, and Tonks and Tess had been driven back a few paces to take cover behind the teachers' desk. "Please, get down boys." They did as he asked. "Finite Incantatum." Caleb sat up immediately.

"Who are you? What's going on?"

"My name is Remus Lupin, and my associates are fighting off a small gang of Death Eaters. We can answer all of your questions, just let's please get out of here first." Looking at the black-robed men in masks, then at each other, the boys grabbed their bags and Caleb said, "All right, let's go."

Using the rows of desks as cover, the four made their way to the door. Remus shouted to the two other Order members. "Tonks, Tess! Let's move out!"

Shooting off a few more spells as cover, the girls joined the four boys rushing through the door. Remus and Tess put a few blocking spells on the door as they closed it behind them, and they could hear the Death Eaters pounding on it from the other side.

"That'll only hold em for a couple minutes. Lead us out of the school, somewhere safe. We can't go to your houses, because that'll be the first place they'll check."

The boy from the hallway spoke. "Oh, my God! Reid!" The other two boys looked at him sharply. Reid was back in the dorm room, all alone.

* * *

I'm going to try and make all the chapters about the same size. What do you all think about the length of this one? Too short, too long, about right? 

I do apologize for the lack of Ipswich boys in this one, but it was necessary to set everything up. It won't happen again!

And I guess that no one would like to appear in my sad, lonely story, cause no one submitted any characters. So if Ron and Reid get lonely, it's not my fault. It's yours! Haha.

Anyway, leave me a quick review and let me know what you thought! Or tell me how the weather is, or what time it is right now, or maybe even whether your initials spell out a word. I read that that was supposed to be good luck. Mine don't spell anything: RMS. But is I leave out the M, and replace the first name with what everyone calls me, and then they say BS. ;)


	4. 3 Shards of Glass

Please read the author's note at the bottom. It contains a small piece of pertinent information, regarding the enjoyment (and understanding) of this fic.

_**

* * *

World Enough**_

_Chapter 3- Shards of Glass_

* * *

Reid was trying hard to take another nap. He had been trying for the last hour, ever since he'd woken up from his last nap to go to the bathroom. But it had been too quiet to fall back asleep.

So he'd turned on the TV, but now it was too loud. He threw a pillow at the offending electronic, but it didn't help anything.

Actually, it made things a tiny bit worse, since now he didn't have a pillow.

Sighing, he rolled out of bed and pulled on some pants. He picked up the shirt he'd been wearing the night before, but it smelled too strongly of perfume, so he tossed it aside. He reached to the floor, picked up his belt, and threaded through his belt loops. Buckling it, he walked across the room and opened his closet door.

Most of his shirts were hanging up in there and he looked through them. While he was a far cry from being a 'neat freak,' Reid wasn't too terribly messy, either. He pulled out a dark grey long-sleeved t-shirt and put it on. The front was printed with a black tribal dragon. Over this, he put a blue hooded vest.

Closing the closet door, he walked to the dresser and pulled out some socks. He sat on the edge of the bed to pull them on and looked at the clock. It was just past 1:30.

'The boys will be in class,' Reid thought. 'I'll go get somethin to eat, and meet em after,' he decided. He reached for his shoes and was about to put the first one on when his window shattered. Without thinking, he dropped the shoe and threw his hands up, creating a shield between himself and the shards of glass.

He rose from the bed, still holding the shield to protect his stocking feet from being cut on the glass lying all over the floor, and stepped towards the window. At the same time, a huge dark shape came through it.

It was a person, but they wore a strange grinning-skull mask and some sort of long black robe. Reid quickly backed up again, his subconscious registering that this dorm room was on the fourth floor. No normal person could have just jumped in here.

The guy in the mask waved some kinda stick at him, and it shot out colored lights. As the light blasts closed in on him, they rebounded off of his shield and back at the man. He stumbled backwards, and Reid took advantage. He threw two blasts of power from his hands and it sent the man right back out the window.

And then the door flew open.

Reid spun, eyes black as midnight and a ball of energy at the ready.

But it was only Tyler.

"Shit, Ty. You won't believe-"

"I believe. And we gotta go. There's more comin."

Reid took one look at the busted window and followed Tyler out the door.

The two boys met a girl at the end of the hall with black and green hair, and Reid gave her a quick once-over. She nodded at him, and turned and ran down the stairs. Tyler followed right on her heels, so Reid followed Tyler.

Once at the bottom of the stairs, the girl paused and Tyler took the lead, heading towards the parking lot.

Reid could see Caleb's Mustang pulled up to the curb, and Tyler's Hummer sitting behind it. The back door to the Hummer opened up and the girl paused for a second, and then climbed inside. Pogue jumped out of the drivers' seat and then got into the Mustang. Tyler, out of habit when traveling with Reid, climbed into the passenger seat of his own vehicle, and Reid, climbed into the driver's seat.

Reid looked into the back, and found not only the strange girl, but an older man with graying hair. "Just follow Caleb," Tyler said. Reid turned back around and put it in drive, seeing Caleb was already pulling away.

Reid followed Caleb off campus and down the road. "Is someone gonna tell me what the hell's goin on here, and who the hell you people are? And who the fuck was the guy in the mask!"

"Yeah," said Tyler, turning around to face the two in the backseat. "Those are some pretty good questions."

"My name is Remus Lupin, and this is Nymphadora Tonks-"

"Call me that, ever, and you'll wish the Death Eaters had caught you. I go by Tonks."

"Right, Tonks, and the lady in the other car is Tess White. We've come from England because one of our associates, a Seer, had a vision that those men, Death Eaters, were going to come after you. We would've been here sooner, but we couldn't contact you directly. We don't know any of your names."

"I'm Tyler. Tyler Sims."

"Reid Garwin. Up there," Reid motioned towards the other car, "is Pogue Parry and Caleb Danvers."

"My God," breathed Remus. "Are you all direct descendants? And what of the fifth family, Putnam?"

Reid and Tyler looked at each other, eyes wide.

"How do you know all that?" Reid asked, looking at them through the rearview mirror.

"We know about where your ancestors came from, before they founded this colony. After that, they were very secretive and cut off ties with their friends and family back home, in England."

Up ahead, Caleb's mustang suddenly sped up and turned onto a different road.

Tyler asked, "Where is he going? The only place I know out this way is the airport."

"That's where we're headed," answered Tonks. "There's an airpayne standing by. Er, no, that's not right, is it? Air payne?"

"Plane?" Reid stared at her. "You mean an air _plane_? Where are we going?"

"England."

* * *

In the Mustang, a similar conversation was taking place.

"We can't go to _England_! I can't leave my mother, and there's school! We're in the middle of our senior year! And...and we don't have passports..." Caleb trailed off at the look Tess was giving him.

"They won't go after your mother. It would be a waste of time. They already know you're with us. You won't need a passport where we're going. We have our own governments and they don't use your muggle ID's. And as for school, well, we have ways of making it look like you've never missed a day, or, if you prefer, like you transferred somewhere else."

"What's a muggle?" Pogue asked.

"Non-magical. Like everyone at your school, save you boys. Strong magic runs in your veins. Now," Tess saw a sign that read 'AIRPORT, NEXT RIGHT.' "You can stay here, I suppose, but rest assured that the Death Eaters will not give up until they have you. For whatever reason, their Master has learned of you, and if he has bothered to send his followers all the way to America after you, then he must want you badly."

"But how did he learn of us? You said it yourself, our ancestors practically dropped off the planet, as far as their families knew."

"Somehow, news reached him, whether a Seer in his employ had a vision, or someone told him."

"The only one who had managed to ever hunt us down was Chase, and he's gone." Pogue shook his head. "Caleb killed him, right Cay?"

"I think so. I mean, I couldn't find any trace of him, but if he hadn't died, he would've come back, don't you think? He was so power-hungry."

"Power-hungry?" Asked Tess. "What if he went to find a greater power than you? What if he found He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named-"

"Wait, who?" Pogue and Caleb asked, at the same time.

"The Dark Lord from our world. I'll tell you his name, but please, don't make me repeat it. It's Vo..." She closed her eyes and summoned a bit of courage. "_Voldemort_. If your Chase found him, who knows what promises of power were exchanged for knowledge?"

Caleb turned onto the airport road and floored it.

* * *

"Albus?" Albus Dumbledore looked up from the parchment on his desk. He had returned from Grimmauld Place, meaning to set up quarters for the three mystery boys, when he'd found a letter from Harry Potter waiting for him.

"Yes?" He answered.

"An owl came for you a moment ago."

"Thank you, Minerva." He took the letter from her and she left.

He opened it, and found a short note from Clinton.

**_Albus-_**

_**My friend the pilot has radioed to let me know they've taken off. Lupin **__**sends word there are four boys, not three.**_

_**-Clinton**_

As soon as he'd finished reading it, the letter burst into flames. Dumbledore let it fall from his fingers. He knew that the self-destructing parchment would be nothing but ash by the time it drifted to the floor, and would leave no mark on the carpets.

He called out, "Dobby!"

There was a loud crack and the house elf was before him. Today, the elf was dressed in red shorts with blue trimmings, a green sock with silver twinkling stars, a yellow sock with thick black stripes, a red and gold tie that looked like one that a Gryffindor student had tossed aside after it frayed all down one side, and a purple and red Hawaiian print shirt. He'd topped this all off with what seemed to be an infant's bonnet with holes poked for his ears.

"Good evening, Dobby. Your clothes seem to be representing the school colors very well."

"Oh, thank you, great sir! Dobby's most favorite is the tie, sir. Harry Potter gave Dobby the tie!" Dobby had tears welling up in his enormous eyes just thinking about his hero, Harry.

"Yes, it is particularly wonderful." Dumbledore smiled down at the elf. "Dobby, would you mind terribly to go up to the sixth floor corridor and ready the quarters behind the portrait of _Rupert the Swotty_? We'll be having four guests very soon."

Dobby nodded, his bonnet flopping back and forth wildly. He snapped his fingers and was gone with a crack.

Dumbledore sat back at his desk and re-read the letter from Harry. After what he learned from Sybil's vision and Harry's dreams, and what he already knew of the Cursed Covenant, then this boy that Harry's been dreaming of had to be a son of the fifth line. Which line, he didn't know. He would find that out when the other four arrived.

Somehow, that fifth son had met with Voldemort, and told him of the other four. That was why the Death Eaters had gone to America and attacked, something they'd never done before. During Voldemort's last reign of terror, everything had happened in Europe, mostly Western Europe.

Dumbledore did not know if the four boys on their way knew of the fifth son, but he certainly knew of them. Dumbledore also did not know what sort of alliance he had with Voldemort. Did the boy think he was going to get something out of working with the Dark Lord, or had Voldemort captured him and forced the information out of him?

From the way Harry described his last dream, it seemed as though the boy was just offering up the information.

Dumbledore rose from his chair and walked over to one of his many bookcases. On the way, he stroked Fawkes' feathers. She softly hummed a few notes of encouragement and the aged wizard smiled at her.

He looked through the books for a short time before extricating three and returning to his desk. He had _A History of Persecution_, _Heresy and Fire_, and _Fact or Fiction? The Cursed Covenant_. The first book was mostly about religious persecution, and it contained a chapter about the time period that the boys' ancestors left England. The second one was a detailed chronicle of the American witch hunts. The third one, well, the third one was self-explanatory. It was a summary of all the information that could be found about the Cursed Covenant. All the facts, rumors, and crazy theories, and intelligent discussions about each one.

Dumbledore conjured up a pillow and placed it into his chair. He called for another house elf, and the elf swiftly brought him a steaming cup of tea and a plate of sweets. It would take him a few hours to go through the books.

* * *

The four boys stood together, away from the three adults. They were debating whether or not to get on the plane. These people had saved them from the 'Death Eaters' and had known many of the Covenants secrets, but on the other hand, they really didn't know much of anything about these people.

Caleb had pulled out his cell phone and spoken with his mother. She told him that she was fine, everything was fine, and was he sure that he was okay when he'd asked if anything was wrong at home. He told her that he was going to Pogue's and he'd have his cell if she needed him.

Tyler and Reid didn't bother to call their parents. They wouldn't have noticed if the boys were gone for a month, with them being in the dorms all the time anyway. Pogue lived alone already. His mother had died several years ago and his father might as well have, since the only contact he had with Pogue was to send him monthly checks. Actually, his secretary sent Pogue the checks. Even the signature was just an ink stamp. But the secretary was nice. She always included a nice letter, asking about school, Kate, summer vacation, and whatnot and Pogue would reply by email.

The other boys weren't sure and didn't want to press the issue, but they'd always suspected that Pogue kinda had a thing for the pretty twenty-something girl.

The three adults were starting to look very impatient, and out on the airstrip they could see a man standing by stairs leading into a silver jet. He was staring at them, so this was obviously their ride.

After a moment of silence, each boy contemplating the next move, Reid said, "You know what, boys? I got nothin to lose. Besides," he looked pointedly at the girl with the green streaks in her hair, "I've always wanted to see Europe." Grinning like a Cheshire cat, he took a few steps towards the airport, still turned to face his friends. He raised his eyebrows, turned, and went to the others.

Caleb looked at Tyler, but, surprisingly, it was Pogue who joined Reid next. Shrugging, he jogged over. Tyler grinned and followed, turning once to beckon Caleb along.

Caleb stared after his friends, and then looked back at his Mustang parked right behind him. He looked back at his friends, and then he let his shoulders drop, his head fall back, and his eyes roll heavenward. "I'm probably gonna regret this."

He pressed a button on his key ring and the trunk popped open. He reached in and grabbed out his backpack and a duffel bag, then closed it back. He pressed a second button and the car gave a little chirp and the lights flashed.

He joined the others and Pogue slapped him on the back. Caleb looked at his friend and shook his head. Pogue just gave him a crooked smile as they headed towards the jet.

The pilot climbed the stairs and disappeared. Moments later, the engines started. The pilot reappeared in the doorway, and after the seven of them boarded, he pushed a button and the stairs folded up against the side and became a door.

The inside of the jet was very expensive looking. Its walls and carpets were neutral colors and the seats were tan leather. There were two long rows of seats, facing each other, with six seats on each side. There were nothing like overhead bins, but at the end of the row of seats on the side with the door, there was a closet. Across from that, there was a bar. It was done in a dark cherry paneling. There was a mirror behind it, and one could see a refrigerator, a sink, several cabinets, and a microwave. Against the back, there was a bathroom.

All seven of the passengers were impressed. Lupin spoke briefly with the pilot, who introduced himself as Captain Branstetter. Capt. Branstetter then shut himself into the cockpit and Lupin took a seat next to Tess, who'd sat in the second seat from the door. She had taken off her jumper and it lay in the seat closest to the door. Tonks was occupying the seat across from the jumper and looking around in apparent awe. She'd already buckled and unbuckled the seat belt, opened and closed the little curtains on the tiny round windows, and was currently trying to unfold the tray table from where it was stored in the armrest.

Tyler was sitting a few seats down from her and looking at her nervously. Caleb had deposited the bags in to the closet, and then deposited himself into the seat right next to it. Pogue was exploring behind the bar, and Reid had immediately gone into the bathroom. He came back out and stopped in front of the bar to see what Pogue had found, but before Pogue could say, there was a loud ding and a light over the cockpit door lit, telling everyone to take their seats and buckle their belts.

Reid plopped down by the bar, naturally, leaving an empty seat between himself and Tyler.

Pogue sat next to Caleb, with a seat between himself and Lupin. The man had a strange feel to him. So did the girls, but there's was a lot like his own and the other boys'- powerful, magical. The man had that feel, but running underneath it was something else- something sinister and feral. It set Pogue's nerves slightly on edge, but he didn't know why.

The plane had started down the runway by now, and all the occupants (save the pilot, of course) were thinking about how strange it felt to be taking off whilst sitting sideways.

The boys could tell by the pinched look on Caleb's face that he was already wishing that he'd stayed on the ground. There was a tense silence for a while, until the Captain's voice came over the loudspeaker. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we've reached cruising altitude and we'll be landing around --------, local time."

The speaker clicked off and Tonks kept looking around wildly. "Where'd that come from?" she asked.

Lupin and Tess both shrugged, and they all looked at the boys expectantly. The boys stared back at them for a moment before Tyler finally said, "Um, the intercom?" At their blank look, he continued. "That, um, box, up there. The captain, he talked into a microphone and then we hear it from there." He pointed at the speaker box by the ceiling, above the seatbelt light, which had finally clicked back off. The three turned and looked at it, but the boys could tell they didn't really get it.

"Where are you guys from, anyway? England, yeah, you said, but you mentioned a different government, and magic wands and stuff. And where did you get your information about the Covenant?" Caleb asked.

"It's kind of a long story," Lupin started.

Reid got up and got something from the bar.

* * *

A/N- This chapter got a way from me a tiny bit, length-wise, but I couldn't find a good place to end. It seems maybe a little OOC, them just getting on the plane like that, but I've decided that they're pretty much running scared after the attack, and also, if they didn't get on the plane, it would've ruined my whole idea...

And because a few people have mentioned it, I need to say something here: WE must all ignore that excellent line that Reid said in the movie, "Harry Potter can kiss my ass!", because in this story the HP world is real, and if they were real, I doubt they'd let some muggle tell all their secrets in a bunch of books. So, he never said that. We can pretend he said something else, something really really witty that I can't think of right now.

Also, since Dumbledore is obviously very much alive in this fic, we can ignore the events of Book 6. This is AU, set in Harry's 7th year. I've decided to incorporate the events of Book 5, though, so Sirius is, unfortunately, dead. And in the last chapter, when Harry is thinking about how things had gone bad 'last year,' well, that was a typo, but I'm going to leave it as-is, and we'll say that he meant last _calendar_ year and not last school year.

Thanks to my lovely reviewers:

Animefanqueen

RedRogue

kEs-2717

Marah

Karakin

Angelique-du-Coudray1

And I've noticed that my hit count is at over 500, which is amazing! But I only have 14 reviews, so, if you all would please oblige me and hit that button. It doesn't really matter what you say, whether you just say you like it, or tell me something about it that you don't like, or even if you just yell at me for not updating one of my other fics (looks around nervously), but please! Please! Review!


	5. 4 Welcome to Hogwarts

**_World Enough_**

**_Chapter the Fourth- Welcome to Hogwarts_**

When Lupin had said it was a long story, Reid knew that he'd have to have some sustenance. He went to the bar and opened a few of the cabinets. He opened a box of pretzels and found a bottle of whiskey whose brand he didn't recognize.

"Ogden's Firewhiskey?" Reid asked Pogue, holding up the bottle.

Pogue shrugged, but Tonks spoke up. "I don't think you wanna try that one," she warned. When she spoke, Lupin, Tess, Caleb and Tyler all looked over.

Reid knew that if he just put it down, they would think that he couldn't handle his drink, and he couldn't have that. He grabbed a glass tumbler from a rack below the mirror and dropped two ice cubes into it. He grasped the red seal around the neck and peeled it back, and then twisted off the cap. He poured a healthy amount into the glass, and got a funny sick sort of feeling when the ice cubes swirled around and melted on contact with the amber liquid. It was stored at room temperature, and the ice was hard as rocks.

Reid twisted the cap back on and raised the glass to his lips. With everyone else still staring at him, and him looking directly at Tonks, Reid threw it back.

True to its name, it was like liquid fire running down the back of his throat. It burned like no whiskey ever had before, and he could feel his body temperature rise by several degrees. He gasped, and the motion of air was like raking a hot poker across his throat.

He sat the glass down hard on the counter and reached for a bottle of water.

The three other boys were staring at him, and Tonks was laughing hysterically. Reid drank the water and reached for another bottle, looking murderously at Tonks through red, watery eyes. "I tried to tell you," she laughed. "That's some of the strongest wizarding whiskey magic can make."

Caleb was intrigued. "Magic-made whiskey?"

"Oh, yes," said Tess. "We brew it up the muggle way, but all sorts of spells and enchantments are placed on it, and the key ingredient is so secret that only Ogden himself knows it."

"And it's usually drank watered down," Tonks put in.

Reid threw himself angrily back into his seat between Tonks and Tyler, holding his pretzels and sulkily drinking a Pepsi. Pogue had also chosen a Pepsi, not wanting to risk humiliating himself by drinking an unfamiliar beverage after what Reid had experienced. He passed one to Tyler and Caleb, and silently offered on to the other three. Tonks accepted, but Tess and Lupin both opted for a water.

"Anyway," said Lupin, "I was going to tell you more about us. We are wizards and witches, much like yourselves. The main difference is that we do magic with the help of wands, like this." He pulled his own wand from it's special pocket inside his sleeve and passed it to Caleb. "Be careful. With all that power you have, there's no telling what sort of things you could do with that. Like we told you already, we have a Seer that we work with, and she had a vision of a school under attack. We reviewed the vision, and someone noticed the patches on your uniform jackets, and that lead us to your school. We knew the time of the attack, because there was, conveniently, a clock in the vision, and we knew that the three of you," Lupin gestured to Caleb, Pogue, and Tyler, "were somehow involved. You," he said, looking at Reid, "were a surprise. Thank god Tyler thought of you when he did, or else they would've had you.

"The men in the masks- They're Death Eaters. They work for a man who calls himself Lord... Lord," Lupin swallowed. No matter what Dumbledore said, the name was still hard to say. "Lord Voldemort. But we don't say the name. We call him You-Know-Who, or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. You-Know-Who is a mad-man. Some say he's not even human, but those are just stories. He's human enough, but pure evil. He believes in a pure-blooded wizarding race. No muggles, nor muggle-borns allowed. Much like Adolph Hitler and his regime, only, if you can believe it, more extreme.

"We work for a man named Albus Dumbledore. He is You-Know-Who's biggest opponent. He heads up a fairly secret organization called the Order of the Phoenix. I have been a member for twenty years, since You-Know-Who's first rise to power. He was beaten back, after years of struggle and the loss of many lives. His downfall is attributed to one boy, an infant then, named Harry Potter. You will meet Harry, I'm sure.

"You-Know-Who tried to kill Harry, why, I don't know. He killed Harry's parents, and then preformed a killing curse on Harry, but somehow, the curse re-bounded and struck You-Know-Who instead. But he didn't die. Dumbledore was sure of it.

"We searched for him, but found no trace. So people began to believe that he _was_ dead, and for ten years, there was relative peace. But then he came back. He gathered support and called his Death Eaters back together before many of us realized what was going on. And it took even longer for our ministry, our government, to acknowledge it. There was actually a battle in the lobby of the Ministry itself before they agreed to 'look into the matter'!" Lupin angrily shouted the last line, and he jumped out of his seat and began pacing.

"I lost my best friend, my brother, that night!" He ranted. "If they'd've taken action, if they'd've _believed_ when we'd said!"

"Remus," Tess said, laying a hand on his arm. The boys looked at each other uncomfortably. Tonks bit her lip and looked away. She blinked several times, trying to hold back the tears but she was unsuccessful. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, eye make-up smearing. Sirius Black was her cousin, one of her few remaining family members, and they'd become much closer during the year he was living at Grimmauld Place. His death was something that everyone was having trouble dealing with still, a year later. As Tess took up where Remus had left off, Tonks turned towards the window and stared out at the passing clouds, crying silently.

"We don't know what He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named wants with you, but we guess that it has a lot to do with your power. I don't know how much you all know, but here's what I know: Several families lived together in a small wizarding town south of London. Somehow, they angered a powerful dark wizard and for revenge, he conjured an unnatural link between their magic and their life force. He made it so that if they used magic, they would use up a tiny piece of their life, the more magic and the stronger magics they used, the faster their life force was used up. And since the magic of the universe is limitless, the life force is what ran out first and members of the families began to age prematurely and die.

"Terrified, the families fled the place and scattered, but not before their curse was discovered and they became collectively known as the 'Cursed Covenant'. Five of the families left England altogether, and founded a small settlement in America. They called their town 'Ipswich' and their descendants still live there today. Dumbledore can explain much more, and better, once we arrive, but I'm curious. How many of you have inherited the magic?" Tess asked, looking at the boys who'd been staring at her as she explained.

Not surprisingly, Caleb answered. "We all do. And only Tyler hasn't ascended yet. His 18th isn't until next week."

"Ascended? What do you mean?"

"When your powers come in fully, on your 18th birthday." Caleb was looking at her like she had grown a second head. "You must've ascended already. Do you call it something different?"

"I really don't know what you're talking about."

"I don't either," said Lupin, getting back into the conversation. "Explain it to me."

While Caleb did, Reid let his attention wander. It landed on Tonks, who was still facing the windows. She was sitting sideways in the seat, her back to everyone else. She had one arm on the back of the seat and her head was resting on it. Reid could see her reflection in the window glass, and while she had stopped crying, a new tear escaped and slid down her cheek. She looked small and lost, nothing like the loud and confident, almost cocky, girl he's met at the top of the stairs at school.

Reid frowned. He was a sucker for crying girls and he knew it. And unfortunately, it hadn't taken _them_ long to figure it out, and they exploited it. In the past, he'd gone to all sorts of lengths to make the girl in question better, but that had stopped short in 10th grade.

He had met this girl, Kristen, at a party. She was crying, and on her way out when she ran into him. Her boyfriend had just dumped for another girl, she'd told him. Reid had danced with her and practically waited on her all night to make the boy, very busy in the corner with Kristen's replacement, jealous. And then over the next week, he spent hundreds on her, buying jewelry, dinners, and a pair of concert tickets. Then one night she came to his dorm room, sobbing, saying her ex, Gavin, had hit her, attacked her in the bathroom upstairs. Reid comforted her all night, and ended up sleeping with her. The next morning, he woke up alone. He called her cell and just kept getting her voice mail. He went to her room and it was empty. Worried now, he went looking for Gavin, afraid that he'd done something else to her. He found Gavin in the parking lot and slammed him up against his car. 'Where's Kristen?' Reid had demanded. Gavin said that he hadn't seen her for a month, not since she'd dumped him. Reid was stunned. Later, he found out that Kristen had made a bet with her friends that she could get a Son of Ipswich under her thumb in a week. The night he'd slept with her had been the 7th night, and the end of the bet. Reid was crushed, embarrassed, and angry. That was the last time he'd ever let himself get serious about a girl.

Reid blinked and shook his head slightly to get Kristen out of mind. This Tonks didn't seem like that kind of girl. She really was hurting, not like Kristen, who'd just been making it all up. He slid over one seat and put his hand on Tonks' shoulder.

Before he could say anything, she jumped up and spun around. She was breathing fast in surprise and her green eyes... Wait, Reid was sure they'd been green, but now they were blue. No, now they were brown, like her hair, but that had been black and green and longer, and then her nose changed shape and her hair got even shorter and spiky and turned pink and her nose changed back and her eyes slowly faded from brown back into a blue.

"Whoa, what the hell?" breathed Tyler, everyone else now looking.

"You scared me," Tonks yelled at Reid, accusingly.

"I didn't mean to. I was just gonna ask if you were okay..." he trailed off. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Pogue and Caleb catch each other's eye. The other Sons of Ipswich knew all about Reid's 'tragic girl' problem.

He changed the subject. "What was that? What you just did, the eye changing, and the hair?"

"I'm a metamorphagus. Means I can do all that, changing my hair, features, height, weight, at will, easier than you can change your clothes. It's inherited, but sometimes some really powerful wizards can work at it really hard, and can do it a little bit." She shrugged, liking the chance to brag a little.

"You mean like this?" Everyone turned to look at Pogue, but in his place sat a perfect copy of Captain Branstetter. Lupin, Tess, and Tonks stared at him, eyes practically bulging.

There was Branstetter's dark, thick hair, green-brown eyes, and dark olive skin. There were his high cheekbones, straight nose, and five o'clock shadow. 'He really is gorgeous,' thought Tonks for a moment, and then the Captain melted away and Pogue was there again, grinning. "Wow," she said, not meaning to speak.

"Wow, yourself." Pogue answered, smiling and flirting a little bit. Reid felt insanely jealous for a moment, then mentally shrugged. Pogue could have her; he was getting over Kate, who had left him after he tried to explain about the spider bites. Caleb had _Used_ on her, making her forget Pogue's explanation so she wouldn't be able to reveal their secret.

For a while, Tonks amused them by switching her nose around and changing her hair, but soon they were all quite tired and it grew quiet in the cabin. Tyler fell asleep first, tired still from his night out with Reid. Lupin switched off the bright overhead lights, leaving on only the ones by the doors and the one in the bathroom. He and Tess spoke with Captain Branstetter for a moment and found there were a few hours of flight time left. After telling this to the others, they reclined their seats and slept.

Tonks was next, since it was getting late on her time. It was only dinnertime for the boys, but after stealing some of Reid's pretzels, Pogue leaned his head back and drifted off.

After sitting in the quiet with Caleb for a while, Reid reached behind himself and pulled all the shades on that side of the plane, effectively shutting out the light from the setting sun. He stretched out his long legs, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes.

Caleb listened, and within ten minutes, Reid's breathing had deepened and slowed, signifying sleep. He quietly got into the closet and pulled out a notebook and pen from his book bag. He propped open the bathroom door so he could use its light. He wrote a letter to his mother, and another to Sarah, explaining that he was fine, the other boys were fine, but he couldn't tell them where he was. He said not to worry, and that he loved them, and they'd all be back soon. He folded the letters up, wrote the proper names on the outside, and placed them on his open palm. He concentrated on them, and his eyes went black. Soon, the letters vanished.

As he stood to put his notebook back, he didn't notice Lupin shut his eyes back.

Feeling protective of his friends, Caleb sat back down, determined to stay awake. Soon, however, the quiet and the dark for to him and he dropped off to sleep.

----

Sarah, returning to her dorm after being made to stand in the parking lot as the buildings were searched for bombs and clues as to who bombed the English wing, checked her cell phone for missed calls. She was hoping to get a message from Caleb. He hadn't been in the parking lot, and neither had the other Sons, but his teacher said that three of them had been in his class when the bomb went off. Sitting by her cell phone was a folded piece of notebook paper with her name on the outside in Caleb's handwriting. She picked it up and read it.

At the same time, Evelyn Danvers was sitting at the kitchen table, where she always ate when she was alone. Caleb hadn't come home for dinner that night. There was a television in the corner, and she switched it on with the remote. As she set the remote back down, she heard the crinkle of crushed paper and looked down. She'd set the remote on top of a folded piece of notebook paper with her name on the outside in Caleb's handwriting. She picked it up and read it.

----

Caleb was jolted awake with a feeling of falling rapidly. The plane was landing. The three adults were awake, and were looking out the windows. Caleb looked too, but it was dark and all he could really see was the ground and the runway lights, rushing up to meet him. It made him nauseous, so he turned back towards his pseudo-brothers as they, too, were waking up.

The landing was swift, and the boys were quickly ushered into a waiting carriage. The three adults boarded a second one. The boys were bounced and jostled around in the unfamiliar mode of transport. Finally, it stopped, but as soon as they were off, they were herded onto a huge train. The adults looked wary, and they all had their wands drawn, so the boys just quietly did as they were told. As soon as all seven were aboard, the train began rolling.

Tonks led them to a compartment and shut them in, telling them not to come out for any reason. The boys looked at each other nervously and sat down. Shortly, Tess came and opened the door.

"Sorry about that. We just had to do a sweep to make sure no one else was aboard. We can't afford to be too careful. It'll only be an hour before we arrive at Hogwarts, but if you need anything, we'll be across the hall." The boys nodded and she stepped out, shutting the door behind her. Through the window, they could see her enter the room across the aisle.

They sat in nervous silence for a short while, and then Reid turned to Pogue, who was sitting diagonally across from him. "So," he said, with an 'up to something' smirk, "what do you think about Tonks?"

Pogue went red, and then flicked a ping-pong ball sized energy ball at him.

----

It was very, very late, or very, very early, depending on your perspective, when the train stopped and they were put into a second carriage. They rolled away from the station and went up a hill and around a curve. Suddenly, Tyler saw something massive loom up against the night sky.

"Jesus," he breathed. Reid leaned over top of him to see.

"Ditto," he said, and Caleb and Pogue looked out Caleb's window.

It was a huge castle, black against the dark sky, blotting out the stars. Several towers jutted out from different parts, and the boys could see several sprawling wings. It was at least a dozen stories high.

Beyond it, there was some sort of stadium, with sets of some sort of goalposts at either end. Near that was a massive lake that they couldn't see the other side of.

On the other side of the castle, there was a row of long, low buildings and as the moonlight reflected off of them, the boys could see they were made of glass. Beyond the glass buildings, there was a round building with a sort of thatched room. Its windows were all lit, and smoke was pouring from the chimney. Beyond that was a dark, sinister looking forest.

The boys looked at each other, eyes wide. They looked back out the windows, each now using his own window, as they pulled into a courtyard. The carriages stopped and the door flung itself open.

The boys stared through it for a moment before Tonks stuck her head in. "You guys gonna stay out here tonight, or what?" she teased.

Pogue climbed over Caleb and was the first one out.

They all followed Tonks up the stone stairs and through a massive oak door, at least fifteen feet tall. She led them into a massive entryway. The vaulted ceiling had to be three stories high, and everything was stone. There were arched doorways, enormous oil paintings and coats of armor. Rich tapestries hung everywhere and there was a huge, round, stained-glass window over the door they has just come through. They were standing on a rug large enough to carpet the living room back at Danver Manor, and in front of them was a huge stairway. The air was heavy with the intoxicating sweetness that came with _Using_.

At the top of the staircase, drawing all of their attentions stood an old man. He wore long, cobalt-blue robes with gold stitching and a matching hat, round, with a flat top. He had long silvery-grey hair and a beard to match. He wore small half circle glasses and bright blue eyes twinkled behind them. His hands were clasped in front of him, at his waist, and he was smiling at them.

He raised his hands up on either side of him and said, "Welcome to Hogwarts."

-----

**A/N:** First, let me thank all of my reviewers: Darkest Reflection, Angelique-du-Coudray1, RedRogue, LunaTygerCat, jellybeano44, animefanqueen, Suntiger, Angellinn, Karakin, Marah, and La Rose Noir.

And a special note to **animefanqueen**, **RedRogue**, and **Angelique-du-Coudray1**: Your first cameos are written and were supposed to be here, but as this one was getting lengthy, they will be the first scene of the next chapter.

I don't remember what Tonks natural hair an eye color are, and since I'm feeling too lazy to look it up (if it's even in the books...) I just made her eyes naturally blue, and let her hair be pink, since that's what she seems to favor.

I keep thinking that there was something else I was going to say here, but I can't remember what it was. So, if everyone will pretty please review, maybe I'll remember later.

Review, please!


	6. 5 Far From Home

_**World Enough**_

**_Chapter the Fifth- Far From Home_**

* * *

Tess, Lupin, and, unfortunately for Pogue, Tonks had left after introducing the boys to Headmaster Albus Dumbledore. Right now, the boys were following Dumbledore through a myriad of meandering hallways, towards his office.

Going down the halls, the boys had been shocked to see the subjects in the paintings moving, watching them. Dumbledore had merely chuckled, saying that the boys would get used to the many things such as that. He also warned them to watch out, because the staircases like to move, too. He had said that just as Pogue stepped onto a staircase, which then began to swing outwards, away from the wall. Pogue jumped off, just in time.

Dumbledore must've known that the staircase was going to move just then, because, when it left the wall, it revealed a hidden corridor. He ushered them through first, and then followed. Walking through, the boys could hear the grating of stone against stone, and they looked back to see the staircase moving back to its original position.

On the other end of the corridor was yet another large stone hallway. This one seemed to be a main throughway, because it was brightly lit and bigger than most of the others had been, and the stones on the floor looked very worn.

"This way," Dumbledore said. "We're nearly there."

In the next hall, the boys were surprised to see some other people. There were four figures in the hall, all female. One was an older lady. Her grey hair was pulled back into a tight bun and she wore a robe much like Dumbledore's. It was black, and the matching hat was pointed. She looked a lot like a stereotypical witch. The other three were obviously students, as they all wore a uniform, like the ones the girls wore at Spencer. There was a girl with short, jet black hair, a girl with long-ish brown hair, and a short, Asian girl with black hair. Two of their uniforms were mostly blue, but the Asian girl's uniform was red.

The older woman, who must've been a teacher, was speaking to them in a harsh tone. "Miss Lang, as a Gryffindor, I am especially disappointed in you! I will walk to you back to the tower myself. Fifty points from each of you for wandering the halls!"

The girls' shoulders slumped. "Miss Wilds, Miss Coudray, you will return to your dormitory immediately. If any of you are caught in the halls again tonight, you will receive a detention."

The girls turned to go, and caught site of the boys and Dumbledore. The brown-haired girl raised her eyebrows and looked each one of them over. The one with short, black hair eyed Reid, and the Asian girl seemed to focus on Tyler.

"Headmaster, I see that their trip was successful. Hello, boys. Welcome to Hogwarts. I am Professor McGonnagall. I teach Transfiguration, and I hope to see you in class," McGonnagall said, treating the boys as if they were merely exchange students. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must return these students to their rightful places." McGonnagall nodded at Dumbledore and walked away, motioning for the girls to follow.

They all glanced back, and Reid, ever the flirt, winked at them.

The Asian girl, Miss Lang, didn't notice, but the short haired girl flushed slightly and the brown haired girl smiled.

The small bit of excitement now over, Dumbledore went a few yards down the hall and stopped in front of a statue. It was grotesque looking, some sort of gargoyle. He turned and addressed the statue directly. "Reese's Peanut Butter Cups."

The boys stared at him. '_What the hell does he mean by that?_' Reid projected at Caleb. Caleb merely shrugged. Was this man crazy?

But then the gargoyle jumped aside and a set of circular stairs was revealed. Dumbledore said, "Follow me." He stepped aboard, and the stairs started to rise and rotate, like an escalator. Tyler and Reid stepped on first, followed quickly by Caleb and Pogue.

Once at the top, they all looked around in wonder.

Dumbledore's office was a circular room -it must've been in one of the towers'- and it was filled with all sorts of things that the boys had never seen before. The top of the room was lined with more of those moving, talking portraits and there were all sorts of hovering, spinning objects on the shelves. There was a cabinet that held a large bowl filled with some sort of glowing liquid and there were shelves and shelves full of old, worn books.

But the most fascinating thing in the entire room sat near the desk. It was a magnificent bird with red and gold plumage and the longest tail they'd ever seen. It was looking imperiously at them from over its beak. Then it opened its mouth and out came some of the most beautiful sounds they'd ever heard. It sang a sad sort of haunting melody, but at the same time, it made them feel good inside. It lifted the fear and worry that had been sitting with them since the Death Eater attack at school.

Dumbledore patted the bird's feathers and smiled. "Thank you, Fawkes." The bird nuzzled his hand. Sitting down at his desk, Dumbledore told the boys to take a seat. Reid and Pogue complied, but Tyler and Caleb remained standing, as there were only two chairs. Dumbledore chuckled to himself and pulled his wand, quickly transfiguring the two chairs into two loveseats. Tyler sat with Reid, and Caleb with Pogue.

"It has been a long journey for you, and I'm sure you are anxious to get some food and rest, but first I wanted to speak with you. I know that you went over a little of this on the airplane, but I don't think that my colleagues knew the full story. How much do you know about where your powers come from?"

The boys shifted uncomfortably under Dumbledore's soul-searching gaze. "Not so much, actually. We have this book, it's been in our families for generations, and it has all of our secrets, everything from the time our town was founded, but all it says is that no one knows where the powers came from."

"Does this book of yours tell you where your families were from before they founded Ipswich?"

"It says that they left England to escape religious persecution," Caleb said slowly.

"Ah," said the old man, templing his fingers under his chin. "That was, in fact, just a cover." The boys all looked up at him sharply. Did they hear right? Was he suggesting that The Book of Damnation held lies? Tess had told them things on the plane that weren't in the Book, but she hadn't said that anything in the Book was wrong. "In fact, your ancestors were fleeing from a dark wizard who had cursed them. I believe that you were told about this." They nodded.

"Tess told us a little about it, and about how it is this curse that causes the aging."

"Yes, that is absolutely right. Before that curse, your ancestors were just like any other witches and wizards. Just like we all are today."

"We were like you? With the wands and everything?" Pogue leaned forward in his seat.

"They did use wands, yes. And they did not age with use. Does everyone in your family still share the curse, or has expanding the bloodline changed that?"

"All the men age, going back as far as our records do."

"And what of the women?"

"The women?" The boys were confused. "The women don't inherit the power, only the first born son does. It's always been that way."

"It has not been. That is new information to me, and I would be very interested to see this book that you have. I would like to study this further. That was not part of the original curse. And this wandless magic that you do, I would like to see some of that. Wandless magic is difficult to do, and it can take many months of study to learn. Yet from what we know about you, you are all able to do it effortlessly."

"It's the only way we know how," shrugged Pogue. "We never even knew there were such things as real magic wands. Actually, we didn't even know that there were others outside of our Covenant that have these powers. I don't understand why it wasn't in the book." Pogue directed the last sentence at Caleb, who shrugged.

It was Dumbledore who answered. "I would imagine that they left it out because they wanted to cut all ties with those who knew of the curse, and with the temptation to use their magic freely. May I see some of your magic?"

Naturally, it was Reid who was the first to Use. His eyes went dark and the book in front of Dumbledore lifted up and shot towards him. He caught it, and then handed it back to the Headmaster. Pogue took a turn, lighting one of the candles on top of a low bookshelf beside the desk. Tyler blew it out with a precisely directed gust of wind. They looked expectantly at Caleb, who hesitated for a moment, and then, eyes black, passed a hand in front of his face.

When his hand passed over them, his features changed, and Dumbledore was there. It was strange, seeing the old man's face underneath of Caleb's hair, and in his clothes, especially with the real thing right across the desk. "Incredible," said the real Dumbledore, and Caleb's features re-emerged. "And you eyes. Do they go black every time you perform magic?"

"Yeah. That's another reason we have to be careful how much we Use, people could see, and we could be found out." Caleb looked pointedly at Reid as he was saying this, and the blond boy shrugged and looked away, out the window.

"Very interesting." The headmaster said, placing the tip of one long finger on his chin. "However, that is quite enough for tonight. If I am not mistaken, your Mr. Sims is ready to retire for the night." The boys looked at Tyler, who flushed and tried to stifle a yawn. "I have had a suite of rooms readied for you, and I will have dinner sent to them. Come, they are not far from here."

The boys followed him through the halls again, to a portrait of a young man, probably the same age that they were, wearing white and gold armor. He had golden-blond curls, and deep blue eyes. His boots were nail-studded, and he wore a belt with daggers hanging from it. The handles of the daggers had inlaid jewels, and he was brandishing a sword. He looked like an idiot.

On the placard below the heavy golden frame, it read '_Rupert, the Swotty_.'

"Good evening, Rupert," Dumbledore began, but was cut off.

"I say, the servants around this place have been treating me appallingly! They have no respect for a valiant knight, one who rescued the Princess Cassandra from Vexor, the Dark Lord of Castle Bonespire! I valiantly rode in on my magnificent steed, and scaled the castle wall! I was injured, shot by a poison arrow, and left to die in the dungeons, but I prevailed! I fought my way through crowds of the Dark Lord's soldiers, with that silly girl weeping, and clutching at my leg!"

Rupert looked as if he could go on in this vein for quite a while, so Dumbledore spoke right over top of him. "Underwater Fencing!"

"Luckily, I was wearing my lucky belt, and I was able to use it to release my chains, and unhinge the door! I crept- Oh, what? Fencing?" Rupert looked confused. "Oh, yes. Passwords. What rot. A man of my caliber as a dormitory guardian-" While he was speaking, bemoaning his post, the portrait and frame swung outward, revealing a perfectly round hole. The five stepped inside, Rupert's whining thankfully becoming muffled when his frame swung shut.

"These are your quarters' while you are staying with us. Rupert is your door guardian, and he will not let you in without the password, which is 'Underwater Fencing.; You may change it whenever you like, you simply tell Rupert that you are wanting to change it, and he will ask you for the old password, and then you have to give the new one to him twice. Now, straight up the stairs is a bathroom, and there are two bedrooms on either side of it. I will return in the morning, and we will discuss further Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters and your powers. I would assume that you will be here for quite a while, as it is not safe for you to leave the protection of Hogwarts while he is actively trying to find you. That said, as you have not yet graduated, I feel that it is necessary for you to begin attending classes as soon as possible. I will have you sorted into the proper Houses, and I will have schedules prepared for you. You will room here, and not with the rest of your house. I would think you would be more comfortable remaining together.

"Also tomorrow, I would like for you to meet a few of the students, three in particular, as well as a young woman who is a leading expert in the field of wandless magic. But for now, there is food and drink on the table, and I bid you goodnight." Dumbledore left, pushing the portrait back open. The boys turned, and suddenly the room they were in lit up as a fire sprang to life in the fireplace and candles lit all around the room.

And it was an enormous room, one much like one of the more formal rooms in their parents houses. It had dark paneling on the walls and thick, plush carpets on the floors. The candelabras were gold and silver, and the fireplace mantle was marble, with a golden clock sitting in the middle of it. On the wall above the clock, was a large tapestry with the school crest on it.

There was a formal sitting area near where they were standing, with high-backed chairs and a mahogany coffee table. Nearer to the fireplace were huge, overstuffed armchairs and couches that looked like you could sink down into them and be lost. There were bookshelves lining one wall, and windows another. They were entering through the fourth wall, and a stairway took up the fourth. Near the wall with the windows was a large round dining table, and around it were about a dozen chairs.

On the table, however, was what really caught their attention.

Several steaming platters had suddenly appeared on it, each holding a different type of main course. Around those, were bowls of side dishes, any kind you might like. There were four large crystal pitchers with different liquids inside, and four place settings. The boys forgot everything that had been going on at the site of this bounty, and rushed to claim a plate. The dug in, each seeming to want to out-eat the other three.

They continued on in this manner for quite a while, and were stunned when the dishes suddenly vanished. They were replaced, seconds later, by the dessert course. Pies, cakes and ice creams were soon heaped on to the boys plates.

After they had their fill, and had each tested the strange smelling orange colored drink, they left the table and wandered upstairs.

They opened the door to the bathroom and found it to be just like any other locker-room. There was a row of sinks, a row of showers, and a row of toilet stalls. In one corner, there was sunk a deep bathtub, surrounded by taps. The bathtub was the size of a small swimming pool, and as deep, and they were surprised to find that there were no faucet handles. They shrugged, just accepting it as one more oddity in this otherworldly place.

They left the bathroom, and checked out the bed rooms. After seeing the bathroom, they had been expecting something along the lines of their dorms at Spencer, but they were again surprised. These rooms were as lavishly decorated as the common room had been. Each bedroom held two four-poster canopy beds, complete with thick bed hangings that could be pulled closed to block out all light.

There were more candelabras and a few windows, and at the foot of each of the beds was a large trunk. They looked inside them, but they were all empty. In between the beds was a long bedside table, with four drawers, two on one side, two on the other, so that it could be shared by both of the room's inhabitants. On the other side of each bed was a large armoire, as empty as the trunks.

The only difference was that one of the rooms was done in red and gold, the other green and silver.

"Well, I guess we'd better get some sleep." Caleb said uncertainly, the four boys standing in the red and gold bedroom. "I guess we'll have a lot to do tomorrow."

Tyler yawned. "Yeah, I'm beat. Someone kept me up all last night." He looked pointedly at Reid, who shrugged and gave him a half-grin.

Caleb opened a door on one of the armoires and tossed his backpack inside. He hung his coat up on one of the hooks, and shut the door back.

"So I guess you've claimed this room, then?" Reid asked him. "Whatever, I like green better anyway. C'mon Baby Boy."

Reid and Tyler walked across the hall and shut their bedroom door behind them. Pogue shrugged at Caleb, and said, "So I guess it's you and me."

Caleb nodded, and they both undressed to their boxers and crawled into their beds.

In the other room, Reid and Tyler were doing the same thing. They'd each claimed a side, after a brief scuffle (they both wanted the side with the windows. Reid ended up with it.). They threw their things into their armoires and went to bed, Tyler falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Reid rolled over and stared out the windows. He could see the stars, but recognized none of the constellations. For the first time, he felt very far from home.

* * *

* * *

Okay, I'm sorry that this one took so long. I write best at my security job, since it's just me, sitting in the car or in the job trailer for eight hours, alone, with nothing to do but read or write. So I write in my notebook, and usually manage about two dozen pages, front and back, which, when I type it up later, translates to about eight or ten pages. I guess I write big.

Anyway, that's a weekend job, so I haven't been there all week, and I've been trying to write directly into word, and for some reason, I have trouble doing that. I can write long-hand in the notebook for hours without stopping, but I can only type for about twenty minutes before I have to stop and think about what's gonna happen next.

There are a few more disclaimers that need to be done here, as this chapter marked the first appearance of several OC's, none of which belong to me.

The three girls, Miss Wilds, Miss Coudray, and Miss Lang belong to RedRogue, Angelique-du-Coudray, and sweetrocks, respectively. One other girl, not yet mentioned, belongs to animefanqueen.

The wandless magic expert that Dumbledore mentioned is an OC that belongs to Marah.

_Rupert the Swotty_ was based rather a lot on the character Rupert, from the short story '_The Girl's Guide to Defeating the Dark Lord'_ by Cassandra Claire, the author of the famous _Draco _Trilogy. It can be found in the book Turn the Other Chick, by Esther Friesner, and I highly recommend reading it. It is a very funny short story, and you will find that all that drivel that Rupert spouted is taken straight from the story, and it is all lies. The Princess (who was unnamed in the story) was actually the hero. I cannot wait for Cassie's next original work to be out, a book called City of Bones.

If you cannot tell, I am a big fan of her work.

And thanks to my reviwers: La Rose Noir, RedRogue, Darkest Reflection, Rotem, Karakin, animefanqueen, Marah, Alana Xavier1, and twotoe. Thanks!

Please, review! Tell me what you thought of the chapter, what Houses you think the boys should be sorted into, what classes they should take, or what you think of Cassie Claire's works! Anything that you might feel like writing, I would love to hear, so please! Review!


	7. 6 With a Little More Zeal

World Enough

Numero Seis- With a Little More Zeal

Harry Potter trudged slowly through the corridors. He was heading towards the Great Hall for breakfast but his mind was on the events of the night before and the letter he'd sent to Dumbledore. He'd received no reply and he was feeling a little foolish for being so sure that his dreams were so important.

And to make his mood worse, he had double Potions with the Slytherins first thing. There was a four foot essay due. Harry's topic was _'Dreamless Sleep Potions- Do the benefits outweigh the risk_?' He'd finished it days ago, and Hermione had checked it for him, but Snape would surely still find fault with it.

Once in the Hall, Harry took his usual breakfast time seat between Ron and Seamus. Hermione was across from Ron and in the seat across from Harry was her book bag. As he was reaching for the plate of biscuits, a school owl came swooping down towards him, pausing only to drop off a rolled up parchment that was tied with a purple ribbon.

He unrolled it and immediately recognized the loopy handwriting as belonging to Dumbledore. "It's Dumbledore's reply," he said to Hermione. He scanned it quickly and then handed it to her. "It says," he told Ron, "that I'm to go to his office instead of first hour!"

Ron looked at him jealously. "First hour's Potions! You lucky bastard."

Harry tucked into his breakfast with a little more zeal than before.

* * *

Harry stood before the gargoyle and pulled the note out of his pocket. Fortunately, Dumbledore had included the password. "Reece's Peanut Butter Cups," Harry announced and the gargoyle sprang aside. 

Harry rode the stair up and entered the office a bit cautiously. You never knew when the Headmaster would be here or when he would pop in a bit late. Today, he was standing at his bookcase replacing a few books. Without even turning around, he said, "Good morning, Harry. I was very interested in a letter that I found on my desk last night. It was most informative. I was, mistakenly, I now see, under the impression that your occlumency lessons had taken care of these dreams."

Harry opened his mouth to say something, but Dumbledore continued. "Nonetheless, they did come at quite a convenient time, because last night, Hogwarts became host to four young wizards from America, who all have the exact powers of the young man from your dreams."

* * *

"And we'll meet them later on today. Dumbledore says he's certain they'll have an idea who the boy in my dreams is," Harry told his two best friends in a low voice. He had jsut returned from the Headmaster's office and found his friends in the common room. He'd quickly explained what he'd learned. 

"Blimey," said Ron. "I've never met an American before. D'you think they'll have funny accents?

Hermione gave him a sideways look before speaking to Harry. "The Cursed Covenant? I've read about that. I'll have to double check my facts again before we meet them. I have a free period now, so I'm going to the library, but you two need to hurry or you'll be late to class."

Harry looked at his watch and swore. There was only 5 minutes left to grab his books and hurry all the way up to Divination. He didn't know why he hadn't dropped this class years ago. He ran upstairs and grabbed his copy of _'Unfogging the Future; Advanced'_ from his trunk and ran back down to meet Ron at the door. Together, they sprinted through 3 halls and up 14 flights of stairs, arriving seconds after the bell had rung. Good thing Professor Trelawney 'already knew' they'd be late.

* * *

Caleb woke when the line of sun creeping across the floor reached his eyes. He blinked several times and looked around. He knew exactly where he was and did, in fact, remember all the events of yesterday, which came as a slight shock. 

In all the books, people always wake up and not know where they are for a few minutes. Either that or they realize everything's been a dream.

He sat up and reached for Pogue's watch on the nightstand. He read the digital numbers, then rubbed his eyes and read them again. 6:09 am. He didn't know what the time difference was between Massachusetts and wherever they were now, but judging from the high, bright sun, it was somewhere around noon, maybe a six hour difference. Very soon, if they hadn't already, people would notice their sudden disappearance at home, and would be questioning Sarah and his mother.

He slid out of bed and re-dressed in his clothes from yesterday and used the bathroom. He debated whether or not to wake the others, but decided to let them sleep. There was no telling when the old man, Dumbledore, would come back. Of course, they were free to leave the room whenever, but Caleb didn't know where to go.

He wandered down to the common room, and discovered Tyler stretched out on a couch, reading a book. "Hey, Ty. I thought I was the first one up."

"Nah, I been up for a while. My watch alarm has gone screwy, and keeps going off. Woke me up at about 5:30. Well, it said 5:30, but it obviously isn't," he said, gesturing towards the sunny sky. "I watched out the windows for a while. There was a whole bunch of students going into those glass buildings. They're greenhouses, I can tell now in the light. They must have a class in there or something. A lot of the kids I saw were our age, and a little younger, but I saw a whole bunch of little kids, like maybe 12."

"Weird," Caleb said. "So it's not the same as Spencer, then. Not a prep school, more like a boarding school, maybe?"

Tyler shrugged.

"What are you reading?"

Tyler put a finger between the pages to mark his place, and then held the book up so Caleb could see the cover. "'_Hogwarts, a History'_? The history of this castle?"

"Yeah. It's really interesting. Reads a bit like a fairy tale. Two great wizards and two powerful witches come together and have this place built. They start up this school, and it's been here ever since. Tells a little about their lives, which is the fairy tale part, and then there's a chapter on stuff that's not possible to do on Hogwarts grounds, but is possible outside of it. I'm really interested in this thing called 'apparation.' From the sounds of it, it's like teleportation and _'Beam me up, Scotty_.'"

"Someone watchin Star Trek, or what?" Pogue grinned at them from the top of the stairs. "You wouldn't marathon without me, would you Ty?"

"Not without my Trekkie buddy!" They laughed with each other, and Caleb laughed at them. Tyler and Pogue were Star Trek fans, and he and Reid, usually total opposites, were Star Wars fans.

"You know," Tyler said, laughter subsiding, "I don't think we'll be watching much of anything while we're here. I haven't seen a t.v. yet."

The boys looked around. It was true. There wasn't a t.v. anywhere, nor a place where one could be stashed. Caleb noticed something else was missing. "There isn't a phone either. And the lights. They're all candles. Guys, I don't think this place has electricity."

"That's wierd. There's gotta be power somewhere." Tyler said.

Just then, four covered trays appeared on the table by the windows.

"Power." Pogue said. "Caleb, d'you think this place runs on magic?"

"Astute observation, my boy." They all spun to face Dumbledore, who had apparently just stepped through the portrait door. "And quite correct. We have no electricity here. We did attempt to use it, as that is a very useful muggle invention, but we found that the magic affected the electronic items and made them nearly useless. Like your t.v. We could turn the television on, but could pick up no outside channels. And we could make a call on the telephone, but there was so much interference that the words being said could not be understood."

"So how do you communicate?"

"We have a postal service, something like yours. However, we entrust our communications not to other people, but to owls."

"_Owls_?" Clearly, the boys thought he was kidding.

"Yes, owls. They are swift and intelligent. They deliver on a timely manner, and rarely become lost or intercepted. Perhaps later, we can show you to the owlery. Now, though, I suggest you eat your breakfast, and then meet me in my office. Do you remember the way?"

Caleb and Pogue nodded. They had been paying attention last night to all of the turns and staircases. They could probably find their way back to the outside without getting too turned around.

"Excellent. Enjoy your meal, I believe the house elves took extra care with your trays, since you are our guests." He smiled once more, and was gone.

"House elves?" Caleb and Pogue looked at each other.

Tyler said, "Oh, I read about them in '_Hogwarts, a History_.' They're something like servants, maybe more like slaves. They're not paid, and apparently, Hogwarts has the largest number of any place around here. From the way the book tells it, they actually _like_ doing the work, that's why they stay, even though they're not paid."

Pogue had wandered over to the table and pulled the cover off of one of the silver platters. "Guys, c'mere. Check out all this food!"

On just that one platter, there was a short pile of pancakes, two eggs, bacon, sausages, toast, biscuts, a bowl of butter, a bowl of jelly, a tiny pitcher of syrup, a larger pitcher of orange juice, a pitcher of milk, a pot of coffee, a bowl of sliced fruit, hash browns, and a little bit of ketchup.

There were two cups and a coffee mug, creamer and sugar, and several forks and spoons.

Opening the other covers, they boys found that this same spread was repeated on each platter.

"Damn," Tyler said. "You guys go on and eat, I'll go wake Reid up."

Caleb and Pogue started in on their food, while Tyler set off upstairs.

* * *

They were lost. Incredibly, very, exceedingly, amazingly, _marvelously_ lost. 

They had set off towards Dumbledore's office roughly 45 minutes ago, and when they reached the place where Caleb and Pogue had thought it was, all they found was a girls bathroom that had a sign on the door reading 'out of order.'

"Great." Muttered Reid. "A girls room. Are you trying to tell us something, Caleb? Been hiding something from the group?"

Caleb reddened.

They tried to backtrack, but instead ended up at the library. "I told you we should've gone up the stairs," Pogue told Caleb. While they argued, and Reid stood impatiently off to the side, Tyler looked through the open library door.

"Guys, I'm gonna go ask the librarian the way." Reid nodded, signifying that he heard, but Caleb and Pogue kept arguing.

Tyler stepped into the library and breathed in deeply. This library was full of old, leather bound books, not like the mass-produced paperbacks that filled the Spencer library. It was warm and quiet in here, and full of little nooks and corners perfect for hiding away and getting lost in the written word. He loved it.

He walked into the main area, where the check-out desk was, but the librarian was nowhere in sight. There was a table full of students off to one side, but they were talking and laughing amongst themselves, and Tyler was slightly intimidated. He was the quietest, shyest one out of his friends, and even though he was sure these students could direct them, he was having trouble convincing himself to speak with them.

He fidgeted for a moment, before giving up and turning, meaning to go back to the halls. But he stopped when he suddenly crashed into a mountain of books that was moving towards him.

He caught himself, but many of the books tumbled to the floor. It wasn't really a mountain of books, obviously. It was a girl with pretty brown corkscrew curls. She had been carrying a stack of 6 or 7 large books, and he had made her drop them. He flushed bright red and stammered an apology as they both bent to retreive her books.

"Oh, that's ok," the girl said. "I wasn't looking where I was going, I was skimming through this book, and..." She trailed off as they stood up and looked at each other. "I'm sorry, but I don't beleive we've met. I'm Hermione Granger, Head Girl. You must be a sixth or seventh year. What's your name?"

"Tyler Sims. You wouldn't know me. I... I just got here yesterday."

"Sims?" The girls dark brown eyes widened considerably. Tyler was a little uncertain, but he answered anyway.

"Yes."

"You're one of them! You're part of the Cursed Covenant, aren't you!" Tyler stayed quiet and took a small step back. "Harry told me you were here, we were supposed to meet you later, and I was looking into your curse so I'd know what was going on when Professor Dumbledore explained, but..." She stopped suddenly at the look on Tyler's face. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I get carried away. My name is Hermione Granger. I'm the Head Girl here, and a Gryffindor seventh year. I'm friends with Harry Potter, whom I believe you were told about?"

"Yeah, Lupin was saying something."

"Oh, you've met Lupin? How is he? I haven't seen him in ages, not since last school year."

"He's okay, I guess. I don't really know. He came to pick us up."

"You had a wonderful escort, then. The best!"

"Umm, we're supposed to go see Dumbledore, but we're kinda lost. Could you, maybe, um. Point us in the right direction?"

"I'll do you one better," she said. "I can lead the way. Let me just write Madame Pince a note- She's the librarian- and we'll go." Tyler waited as Hermione pulled a sheet of parchment and a quill out of her bag. He stared at it as she used the feathered thing to write her note. Hermione noticed his stare, but took it the wrong way. "It's self inking," she tried to explain. "Harry gave me a set of them for Christmas last year. Aren't they lovely? Not having to carry around the ink bottles leave loads of room in my bag. I can fit an extra book in!"

"But, wouldn't it be easier to just use a pen?"

Hermione looked at him strangely. "Do you use pens at your school?"

"Not it was Tyler's turn to give a funny look. "Of course. Everyone does. I've never seen someone actually writing with a quill before."

"That's strange. Everyone here uses them. The muggles use them, and so some of the muggle-borns and half-bloods have them, but they're never used for school work."

"Oh, they told us that word, muggle. Everyone we know is muggle. We never knew there were others with powers like us until Lupin, Tess, and Tonks came."

"Really? That's incredible! I read that your forefathers hid away from their old friends and family here in England, but I had no idea that they sealed themselves off completely from wizarding culture."

By this time, they were out in the hallway again, and the other boys had stopped arguing long enough to notice that there was a girl with Tyler. They goggled at him for a moment. Tyler was very shy around girls, and usually dated through Reid.

"Hello, I'm Caleb Danvers." He held out his hand, and the girl shook it.

"Hermione Granger. Tyler told me you were looking for Dumbledore's office?" Caleb nodded once. "I can take you. You're not too far away from it."

"Thank you," Caleb said, and Hermione gestured for them to follow her. As she led them back down the hall they had just come through, Pogue introduced himself.

"I'm Pogue Parry, it's nice to meet you," he said politely.

"Pleasure is mine, Pogue. And that means you must be either the Pope or Garwin boy?"

"Garwin. Reid Garwin. How did you know that?"

"As I was telling Tyler, I was studying up on your covenant. We were to have a meeting later in the day." They reached the end of the hall and stopped at a staircase. "This is where I need to turn off, but if you just go down two flights and take a left, you'll see the gargoyle that marks the entrance. It was lovely to meet you all, and I look forward to our meeting with the Headmaster."

They said goodbye and thank you, and she turned and went up the stairs. They went down, and just as she'd said, turned left and found the statue.

----

Reid sat on the stool feeling foolish. He was waiting for Dumbledore to put some nasty, stupid looking hat on his head. He was being 'sorted' according to the old man, into one of the four 'houses' at Hogwarts. Apparently, this school was broken down not only by grade, but also into four groups they called houses. The four houses were Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. The students of the same grade level in each house took classes together, roomed together, and earned and lost points. At the end of the year, whichever house had the most points won an award.

Reid thought it was stupid, but he could tell the Caleb was excited. _'He probably wants to be a Gryffindor,'_ Reid thought angrily, recalling the short explanation of each house as Dumbledore dropped the hat onto his head.

'_Who wants to be a Gryffindor?'_ Said a voice into his ear and just jumped slightly.

'_What the hell?'_ He though. There was no one standing near him.

'_I said that,'_ the voice said. _'I'm the sorting hat. I decide which house will best benefit you.'_

'_You talk?'_ Reid thought at the hat.

'_Of course! How else could I decide where you belong?'_

'_Um, I don't know. So where do I belong?_'

'_Certainly not studious Ravenclaw, and, though you _are_ loyal, Hufflepuff is not a good match for you. Gryffindor values bravery which you have plenty of, but there is shrewdness and ambition in you so strong that I think the only place to put you is SLYTHERIN_.' The hat said this into Reid's ear, but said Slytherin out loud for the whole room. Dumbledore nodded, and stepped forward. He took the hat off of Reid's head and motioned for Caleb to take a seat.

The hat wasn't on his head for 2 seconds when it announced Caleb as a Gryffindor. _'I knew it,'_ thought Reid, recalling Dumbledore's explanation of what each house stood for. '_It was the integrity thing that he liked the sound of.'_

Pogue was next, and the hat took a little longer. The hat announced him as also being a Gryffindor.

Tyler was last, and he took the longest of all. Finally, in a strained sort of tone, the hat told them that Tyler was to be a Ravenclaw.

After that, they were each given a class schedule, which Reid shoved immediately into his pocket.

"Tomorrow is Saturday, so there are no classes. Since you have nothing here, I am going to send you to the nearest town, Hogsmeade, to purchase a few things. Here is a list of things that you will need, and here is some money." Caleb took the list, but not the bag of money.

"We can buy our own things, really."

"Ah, but I believe that all you have is American muggle currency? You won't be able to spend that in Hogsmeade. It's a wizarding village, and all the merchants will accept is wizard coins."

He stuck his hand in the bag and pulled out a handful. The coins were strange looking. They were mostly large and gold, but there were smaller silver ones, and a couple of even smaller bronze ones. "Since the money is strange to you, and you don't know the way to Hogsmeade, I'm going to send a few students with you. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger are some of the top students here, and I am sure will be quite willing to venture off school grounds for a day.

"They are having lunch in the Great Hall right now, but since you don't have school robes on, you would draw a considerable amount of attention that I'm sure you don't want. After classes today, I will arrange a meeting. Right now, I have someone else I'd like you to meet." He stood, and the boys followed him out into the halls.

"There is a former student that I have asked to come stay here. She graduated only last school year, but is an expert on wandless magic. Her parents are Order members, and she wants to help us out, so we can be certain that she will not report your whereabouts or abilities to Lord Voldemort."

He led them back to where the portrait of '_Rupert the Swotty'_ was hanging, and into a door about ten yards down.

Inside was a classroom, but from the layer of dust, they could tell it hadn't been used in quite a while. The students desks were pushed all against one wall, and the bookshelves were empty. But by the teachers desk was a large trunk that had no dust, and behind the desk was a door. It stood ajar, and there was light coming through it.

Dumbledore knocked on it, and out came a short girl, not too far over 5 foot, with long reddish-brown hair. She was quite curvy, the boys couldn't help but notice, wearing a dark pink paisley print shirt with a brown suede skirt and brown shoes. Her eyes looked almost violet at first, but when she came out of the shadow of the doorway, they could see that they were grey.

"Boys, I'd like you to meet Miss Aine Burke. She will be working with you, helping us to learn the extent of your powers."

* * *

And that is the end of this chapter. I had originally written the scene where the trio and the boys meet at the end, but went back and added in the scenes where Harry has breakfast, talks with Dumbledore, and is late for Divination, and that made it entirely too long, since it put it onto the 10th page, and I was aiming for around 7 pages per chapter. 

Also, I believe that this story had grown to be on a much larger scale than I had originally intended, as here we are at the end of chapter 6, and they haven't even met all three members of the trio yet.

Now, I've got to run, because I'm going to be late to meet my cousin to see _Spamalot_, but I had to upload this, so if there are any mistakes, I'm sorry. (Blame Marah: she's threatening to not update unless I do!)

Please review!


	8. 7 Who's Voldemort?

_**World Enough**_

**_Chapter 7 - Who's Voldemort?_**

* * *

Hermione was waiting outside the door to Charms when the boys arrived. She was practically vibrating with excitement as she bounced on the balls of her feet and clutched at a worn leather book.

When they were near enough, she began speaking very quickly, and the boys had a little trouble keeping up. "You'll never guess what happened to me! I was in the library gathering up every book that mentioned the Cursed Covenant and while I was walking to check them out, I was reading a bit out of one and not fully paying attention to where I was going, which was very silly of me, when I ran right into someone! All of my books crashed to the floor and as I bent to pick them up, so did the person I collided with. We apologized to each other and I didn't recognize him, so I introduced myself and so did he. His name was _Tyler Sims_!" She said his name with particular emphasis and Harry and Ron looked at each other. Were they supposed to know that name? She made an exasperated sort of noise. "Sims! One of the 5 Cursed Covenant families?"

Dawning realization lit up the boys eyes. "So you met one of them already, then?"

"No, I met 4 of them! They were on their way to Dumbledore's office and were lost. Tyler came into the library to ask Madame Pince the way, but she had stepped out, so I took them. There was Tyler Sims, like I said, as well as a Danvers, a Parry, and a Garwin. The only one missing was a Putnam. The other boys were uncomfortable when I mentioned that name, but didn't say anything about it. But," she said much softer now, since they'd entered the classroom and didn't want everyone to listen in, "the Garwin boy looks far too much like Malfoy. I'm sure they've got common ancestors. I mean, how many people have you seen with that color hair? Later on, I may have to see if I can trace one family back to the other."

The boys looked at each other again, thinking the same thing: More research. If Hermione started looking into her theory, then it would mean that _they'd_ have to read about it. And they were already researched out, in preparation for the NEWTS they'd be taking at the very end of the year.

Tiny little Professor Flitwick started class then, testing them on the various charms they'd learnt in the past week.

* * *

"You can just call me Aine. I don't feel old enough to be known as 'Professor Burke,'" said the girl from where she sat on the teachers desk. "Besides, I'm here 'officially' as a TA, teachers assistant. Charms, if anyone asks. Unofficially, what I'm really here for is you guys. Dumbledore contacted me late last night and asked me if I could come because you four do wandless magic without having had any training in it, is that right?"

The four boys, all sitting or leaning against the students desks, nodded.

"How long have you been doing this?"

"5 years. Since we were 13."

"And what about before then? Did you use only wands?"

"No, we've never used a wand. We didn't have the magic before our 13th birthdays."

"That's strange. Everyone who has magic is born with it. It's in your blood. I read up on your curse this morning on the train and I'm willing to bet that your magic being blocked until 13 is a part of it no one knew about.

"I'd like to see what you can do. That way, I can try to come up with some sort of lesson plan. Oh, and before I forget- if you look at your schedules, you each have two free periods every day, and it would be best to use one of them for our training. The other option is to meet in the evening, but if you do that, the other students will likely ask questions. Anyway, we can figure that out later. Lemme see some magic!"

"What do you want us to do?"

The petite girl drummed her fingernails on the desktop, making a satisfying tapping sound. "How about moving one of those desks away from the wall?"

They all looked at each other and Pogue shrugged and stepped forward. He looked Aine dead in the eye and _Used_, reaching out to the desk with his mind. She drew a sharp breath as his eyes went black.

There was a horrible grating sound as one desk began to move, it's feet scraping against the stone floor. Aine's eyes sought out which one was moving, then she looked back at Pogue. He was using no incantations and no gestures. This was the rarest, truest form of wandless magic.

Suddenly, Pogue grinned at her and Aine was glad she was already sitting down, because her stomach dropped and she felt light and fluttery. All the desks, including the ones that Tyler and Caleb were sitting on, shot towards the center of the room. Reid stumbled backwards, but caught himself before he hit the floor.

Pogue's eyes faded back to their normal color. "How was that?"

"Fine, good." Aine replied after a brief pause. She hadn't felt like that since fifth year, when she found herself in the arms of Marcus Flint after a bizarre broomstick incident.

Thinking of Marcus, she quickly came back to her senses.

"That's enough for now. I've got a lot to unpack, and I'll sit down and make a list of things for you to do on Monday." She paused, and looked at her watch. "It's 2:30. Classes will be out soon and Dumbledore said you have someone else to meet then?"

"Yes," Caleb said. "We're going to meet the other two students who're supposed to help us get supplies tomorrow. We met one of them earlier, Hermione Granger?"

"Oh, I know Hermione! She's brilliantly talented and grew up muggle like you four. When she was a third year, she took some advanced electives that I was taking as a fifth year. Got a higher grade, too."

"She said she was a head girl," offered Tyler.

"I don't doubt it. Head Girl is a coveted position, and it goes to the best. You're lucky she's got time to help you. Are you meeting back in the Headmaster's office?"

"No, they're coming to our common room. I think Dumbledore doesn't want us lost in the halls again." Caleb had the grace to look slightly embarrassed at Tyler's words, but Pogue didn't seem to care.

"Well, best get going anyway, then. I want to unpack my clothes at lest before dinner, so I can change out of these. Figure out which free period you wanna meet and let me know. My quarters are through there, so this is where you'll usually find me. If I would happen to be out, just stick a note on the door."

She hopped off the desk and had to look way up to the boys. She resolved to wear heels from now on. "I'll see you guys later, then. Have a good weekend."

They returned her well-wishes and good-byes, and Aine smiled at them as they left. She let her eyes linger on the longer-haired boy for a few seconds longer than she meant to, but not nearly as long as she wanted to.

* * *

Everyone, even Hermione, was ready to get out of Charms when the bell finally rang. They all scooped up their things and clustered around the door, each wanting to be the first one through. Last class on Friday was always like this, but usually Hermione detested that type of behavior. Today, she joined the throng. She was eager to get to the meeting.

She, Harry, and Ron all went directly to Gryffindor tower. Harry and Ron went to their dorm room and tossed their bags under their beds, to be forgotten until Sunday night when they'd do their weekend homework, and they changed out of their uniform and into casual, weekend clothes.

After trading her skirt for jeans and shedding her uniform vest, tie, and long black robe, Hermione sat down on her bed and sorted through her book bag. She replaced all of her school books and notes with fresh paper and library books. She then went into the bathroom and checked her hair and face. She had a bad habit of getting ink on her fingers and then brushing her hair behind her ears, leaving ink smudges on her cheeks and in her hair. Today, there was no ink. She pushed her hair behind her ears and a lock sprang right back out.

Making a small noise of disgust, she tugged it straight and let go. It immediately re-coiled and bounced there. Hermione glared at it. After 4th year, she began to let her hair grow, at her mothers urging. Finally, in about the middle of 6th year, it had gotten long enough so that it's weight pulled the frizz she was used to a little flatter, and it now hung in disorderly corkscrew curls. She hated it.

She wished not for the first time that she had Lavender's straight golden locks, but she knew she did not have the patience for straightening charms every morning, nor did she want to dye it. Her brown hair matched her skin tone in a way that she knew blonde never would. She sighed. She'd never tell anyone, especially her two roommates, but she sometimes longed to be more like them. Girly and boy-crazy, putting on make-up, going on dates, and generally not worrying constantly about the fate of the world.

But she could never be like that. And boys were never interested in her, she was much too plain and boring.

'_That's not true,'_ a small voice told her. _'Tyler was noticing you!'_

'_Only because I plowed into him,'_ she told the voice.

'_Whatever,'_ it replied. '_We both felt his eyes on you in the hall.'_

Hermione began to ignore the voice and left the bathroom.

Shortly after, the three of them arrived in Dumbledore's office. They all three looked around for the Covenant boys, Hermione's excitement rubbing off on the boys, but only the Headmaster was there.

He stood as they entered and made a moments small talk about the days classes before picking up a brown-paper wrapped package and telling them to follow him. They did, and ended up in a little-used hallway on the sixth floor. There ere no classes held in this hall of the one it emptied into, so it was mainly used on Tuesdays and Thursdays when the upper-class Ravenclaws went to and from Ancient Runes.

Dumbledore halted them in front of a portrait she didn't remember seeing when she walked back from Runes, talking with a classmate.

It was a young man, about her own age, but he carried himself with dignity and not a small amount of superiority. "Good evening, Rupert. Rescue any damsels today?"

"Alas, no. But I did shine my armour twice. It's reflective enough to fix my hair in, which will be very handy. You need to look your best when rescuing fair maidens." Rupert looked smug.

Ron leaned over to Harry and whispered, "What a prat!" Harry nodded in agreement. Dumbledore gave the password and entered. The Gryffindors followed him, and the portrait swung shut.

There was a short, dark hall, and then it opened up to a fair sized common room. It wasn't even half the size of the Gryffindor common room, but Hermione liked it's intimate nature and the shelves of books. Glancing at them, she recognized the spines of several past textbooks and other commonly used research books. Ron and Harry liked the tables by the windows that were teeming with foodstuffs, like sandwiches, cookies, and pitchers of pumpkin juice.

Two of the Covenant boys, Pogue and Tyler, were sitting in two chairs by the fireplace, and Caleb was walking down the stairs. "Good afternoon, boys. I trust your lesson went well?"

"I guess. We didn't really do much," said Tyler, looking up.

Dumbledore nodded. "Where is Mr. Garwin? I would like to make introductions and get started."

"I'm here," came a voice from the top of the stairs. Everyone looked up, and Harry and Ron did a comical double-take.

"Damn, 'Mione, you were right! He's got to have Malfoy blood." Ron paused. "It's a little creepy." Harry nodded his agreement.

"Who's Malfoy?"

"A Slytherin tosser."

"Ron!" Hermione scolded him. Speaking like that in front of the Headmaster! Fortunately, Dumbledore had chosen that moment to wonder over to the food table.

Reid raised his eyebrows. He didn't know what the red-head meant by 'tosser' but judging by the tone, it wasn't something positive. He also figured that this wasn't the time to bring up his own new 'Slytherin' status. He glanced at Tyler who usually on the same wavelength, but Tyler wasn't looking at him. He was looking at Hermione.

Reid looked towards the other boys, but was distracted. "Hey, food!"

Caleb, Pogue, and Tyler looked at him, then looked where he was looking. They're eyes widened. None of that had been there before, and, they just realized, they were starving.

Dumbledore turned back to them all. "Please, make your plates and gather back around." That was all the invitation the boys needed. All 6 of them rushed the table. Hermione took it a little more delicately.

While they were picking out sandwiches, the boys of the Covenant said hello to Hermione. "How was your afternoon? Get lost anymore?"

They grinned at her and Caleb shook his head. "These are my friends, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter," she gestured at each one in turn. "And these guys are Caleb Danvers, Pogue Parry, Tyler Sims, and Reid Garwin."

They seated themselves around the fire place, Tyler and Pogue back in the arm chairs and Hermione sat between Harry and Ron on the couch. Reid and Caleb pulled chairs over from the table. Caleb sat between Pogue and Ron, Reid between Tyler and Harry. Dumbledore opted to stand.

"Centuries ago, sometime during the early 1400's, a small wizarding village was founded called Whedonton. It was located somewhere very near the Scottish border, on a small river.

"The people of Whedonton lived quietly, keeping muggles out with special charms and wards. It was this way for several decades, and the village prospered, trading with other nearby villages, both wizarding and muggle. A man by the name of Travers grew up there and became a trader. Unlike the other traders, however, Travers was deceitful. He often made deals with items he knew would break, or would trick people in to agreeing to give him a valuable item in change for something useless.

"Travers would then sell what he had gained at an unfair price to the people back in Whedonton, and eventually, the townsfolk grew tired of it. One day, Travers refused to sell food he'd recently acquired at the same price to everyone, and people decided enough was enough. A group of strong men attacked Travers, snapped his wand, and banished him from the area.

"Things grew better, and for two years, Whedonton was peaceful again. While he was banished, Travers wandered the country like a gypsy, using tricks and thievery to get by, and seeking out the strongest magic users he could find. They taught him much in exchange for things he could steal, and once he was powerful enough, he returned to exact his vengeance on Whedonton.

"He remembered very clearly which men had attacked him and drove him away, and he had a special plan for them. To Travers, it seemed that those men had forcibly taken his life away, by snapping his wand and ripping away the only life he'd ever known. So he came up with a spell to remove their lives. He didn't want to outright kill them, because he wanted them to suffer.

"What he did was to tie the magic in their blood to their very life, making it so that for every bit of magic they used, it would use up a little piece of life. The larger the magics, the larger the bit of life lost.

"He cast this spell at, of course, midnight, and it took immediate effect. When they woke the next day, they went about their business casting spells and charms as usual. The men at work were growing tired, and they went home only to discover the same thing happening to their wives, and even their children. You see, when Travers cast this spell, it affected not only the men, but their entire family.

"A week passed and the families aged, and the first death occurred. They convened and discussed what was happening, and eventually realized that the families were connected by Travers. They elected riders to go out and search, but the search was quick as Travers was still just outside the wards, watching his spell take effect. They ordered him to lift it, but he refused, and, in their anger, killed him.

"That was a terrible mistake, since no one could now know how to counter the curse, since it was Travers own creation, and there was no wand to study. The cursed families tried to continue on, but they found it difficult to continue living with people who were still able to use magic openly, and the traders from the nearby towns became afraid of them when they showed the outward affects of aging.

"Ultimately, they gathered together and left Whedonton. They traveled together for a time, supporting one another and staying to themselves. It was then that they were given the name of 'Cursed Coven' and for a few decades, they were hidden, and people talked of them as if they were only a folktale.

"It wasn't until the late 1500's, when there was a muggle religious uproar, that they were discovered again. The muggles were splitting their common religion into many sects, and none of the sects wanted anything to do with each other, so they began to leave the main towns and resettle elsewhere. It was during these travels that a group encountered the Cursed Coven and brought them back into the public eye. They were discovered at witches, and were driven away. Some were captured and killed, and most of the rest left England totally. Some settled in other European countries, but one group had hidden in a small town called Scrooby, and heard of how several families journeyed across the Atlantic and founded a new colony. They stayed together and, under assumed identities, made the arduous voyage across the Atlantic with the Puritans in the mid 1600's. It was easier not to use magic after the practice they'd had for decades, and the muggles suspected nothing.

"The families, who you know to be Danvers, Sims, Parry, Garwin, and Putnam, began to call themselves the 'Cursed Covenant' now, in correspondence with the few friends they still had in Whedonton and elsewhere. They settled in the new world, and eventually founded a town, that they called Ipswich. Shortly after, they severed all contact with their English brethren." Dumbledore finished, looking a little grim. The boys and Hermione were all staring at him wide-eyed, their food all but forgotten.

"So every time you use magic, your life gets shorter?" Hermione fully grasped the curse; she'd read every book about it in the library and listened closely to Dumbledore's explanation, but she was having a hard time really believing it.

The boys nodded, expressions grave.

"I am having trouble understanding some parts, and I had hoped that you could explain them to us," Dumbledore began again. "You do your magic wandless and without incantation, and only the males in your family inherit the power. Do you know why this is? Neither of those were conditions of the original curse."

"Actually, only the first-born males inherit it. If any of us had a younger brother, he would be what you call muggle. We've never even seen real magic wands before. It has always been this way for us, as far as we know. We have a book, called the _Book of Damnation_, and it has records of everything, dating back to before Ipswich was founded. It says that no one knows where the power came from or why, but it does have our entire family trees in it, starting with us, and ending with the men who crossed the Atlantic. In all of those families, only the oldest son was listed as being magic. We thought that it had just always been that way, forever," Caleb explained.

"No, not forever. I have a suspicion that your ancestors were attempting to remove the curse, and if they could not remove it, to bind the magic itself. It will take some testing, but my theory is that they put a new curse on themselves to try and make their magic unusable. It must've worked, except in the case of the first-born son. And even then, he does not receive his magic until his 13th birthday. I believe that this is the magics own way of protecting itself. You see, magic is a powerful force. We wield it, but only because it allows us to." Dumbledore paused, giving the younger generation time to reflect upon his words.

"Now, of the Putnam family. Where is the youngest member?"

This time, Pogue answered. "We thought we had killed him." The Gryffindor 7th years looked slightly horror struck, and Caleb's face darkened. Pogue hastened to explain. "See, a long time ago, not too long after Ipswich was founded, American's caught the English fervor of witch hunting. There was a huge which trial in Salem, and several innocent people were killed. John Putnam was also killed. He wanted to go against the rest of the families and show our power, thinking it would give us greater status and wealth. The other families knew that he was wrong, and that we must keep our magic secret, especially during the witch hunts. John Putnam was eventually killed as a witch himself, after a respectable widow accused him of coming inter her bedroom at night in the form of an incubus. He was stoned, and since he wasn't married, the other families thought that the end of the Putnam line.

"But at the beginning of this year, right before Caleb turned 18 and ascended, received his full power, a boy called Chase Collins transferred to our school. Really strange things started to happen. A student even died, and we discovered that Chase had some sort of powers, too. We stole his file and read it, and found out that he killed his adoptive parents on the day of his own 18th birthday, and that his real last name was Pope.

"We looked that up in the Book of Damnation, and that was the last name of the woman who accused John Putnam. Turned out, she gave birth to a son, 9 months later."

"So this Chase boy was a Putnam after all?" Hermione asked.

Pogue nodded. "He was a Putnam, and he was seriously addicted to _Using_. See, with this aging thing, we don't really use magic much, but when we do, it's a..." Pogue trailed off, searching for the proper word.

"Euphoric?" Tyler offered.

"Yeah. The feeling is just over-whelming, like we can do _anything_, like the world can be yours. It's like a drug, and you really can get addicted to it. And Chase was. He had searched out his real father, and found the dying shell of an old man in a 40 year old's body. His father had been addicted too, but he had pushed it too far. His last act was to will his magic into Chase, giving Chase access to even more power at once.

"Chase thought that if he could gather even more power, by forcing Caleb to will his power over too, that the aging wouldn't happen to him. He was sure that the aging happened because the magic was being used up. We tried to explain that it was the body that gave out, not the magic, but he was crazy. He tried to kill me, kill my ex-girlfriend, kill Caleb's girlfriend, and he did kill that student.

"But Caleb's own father," here, Pogue paused, swallowing, and looking to Caleb, who stood and moved to the windows. Pogue lowered his voice and continued. "Caleb's father had been addicted, too. An old family friend was caring for him, barley keeping him alive, but while Chase and Caleb were fighting, and after Caleb ascended, Caleb's mother went to his father and talked him into willing his power to his son. Caleb received his father's magic just in time, and managed to defeat Chase and rescue Sarah, his girlfriend, who Chase had managed to kidnap right out from under Reid and Tyler's noses.

"But see, when you will your magic away, it's like you just _Used_ and _Used_ until it was all gone, and it wipes your life out immediately, and you die." Hermione shuddered.

"So, you _thought_ Caleb killed Chase? What really happened?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore answered before Pogue could. "Do you remember the boy from your dreams Harry? The boy who you first saw climbing out of a burning pile of rubble?" Harry nodded.

"So you think that Chase is the boy from my dreams? The boy who I saw with Voldemort?" Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, and they all knew that meant that Harry had guessed right.

Reid raised his hand. "Who's Voldemort?"

* * *

Whew! It's a record-length chapter for this fic, 10 pages! Well, 9 and a quarter. This A/N will put it to 10, probably. And I'm sorry it took so long. Halloween is a two-day event here (took up Monday and Tuesday) and I worked all weekend, which meant that I got writing done, but I still had to type it up.

Now, a few **important things** (well, depending on whether you even noticed...): _First_, in the library scene chapter, Hermione asked whether Reid was the Garwin or the Pope boy. Obviously that should've been Putnam, not Pope. Hermione would not have known the Pope name until after the big discussion in this chapter. Thanks to **SweetRocks** for pointing that out.

**Secondly**, I had Reid narrowly escape from the Death Eaters and run down the hall with no shoes on. And then I never gave him any shoes later on, and they didn't exactly have time to pack, and no one offered them new clothes yet, so that leads me to believe that he is still running around barefoot. Obviously, it's been a whole day and someone would've noticed him walking around in stocking feet, so let's try this:

Everyone imagine that Tyler had an extra pair of gym shoes in the back of his Hummer, and we'll also imagine that Tyler and Reid wear the same size or very close to the same size shoe, and we'll go on from there and assume that Tyler said, "Here, Reid. Since you have no shoes on, you can wear these." And naturally Reid said, "Okay. I will put your shoes on, since I cannot make such a long journey with bare feet."

Thus, he is no longer barefoot.

**Marah**: How is Aine? Acceptable, or do you hate her?

And thanks to all of my reviewers! SweetRocks, Marah, RedRogue, La Rose Noir, animefanqueen, Angelique-du-Coudray1, Crickes, and valaarien!

Please review!


	9. 8, A: Hogsmeade

_**World Enough**_

**_Chapter 8 – Hogsmeade_**

**Part A**

* * *

Everyone turned and stared at Reid, even Caleb over at the windows.

"Reid, you moron," Tyler said, throwing a dinner roll at him. "Lupin told us all about that on the plane. He's the 'You-Know-Who' guy!"

"Sorry, jeez." Reid threw the roll right back. "I was a little pre-occupied with tying to regain normal _breathing_."

"That was your own fault for taking a shot of whiskey!"

"Hey, man, that wasn't normal whiskey!"

"Hey," Ron interjected. "It didn't happen to be Firewhiskey, did it?"

"Um, Pogue? Sounds about right, doesn't it?" Pogue nodded.

"Damn! And you shot it straight?" It was Reid's turn to nod. Ron grinned and raised his eyebrows in Reid's general direction. "Impressive!"

Reid preened slightly and then childishly stuck his tongue out at Tyler.

Dumbledore ignored them and spoke to Harry. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, I believe that you are not busy tomorrow, is that correct?"

"Yes, sir, it is. There are no classes tomorrow, and I do have homework that I could do, but that's all."

"How would you like a trip into Hogsmeade?"

"Hogsmeade? But sir, it's not a Hogsmeade weekend." Hermione said this over Ron and Harry's loud burst of excitement.

"That's true, however our guests will need some supplies and I'm sure they would like to immerse themselves in wizarding culture before they begin classes on Monday."

"Oh, they're going to take classes? Which ones? I've taken nearly all of them, and I could help them," Hermione cut off as Ron put his hand over her mouth.

"We'd _love_ to go to Hogsmeade," he said.

* * *

The next morning Hermione awoke at 8:35. She quickly gathered her clothes for the day and shut herself in the bathroom. As the Head Girl, she had her own quarters, but the downside was that she shared a common room and bathroom with the Head Boy.

This year, that was Draco Malfoy. Hermione hated sharing space with him. There was nothing but bad blood between them after six years of animosity. Granted, he was civil now, after the first few weeks of detentions and hexes, but it was still Malfoy. Dumbledore must've been having a senile moment to appoint him Head Boy.

Hermione turned on a few different taps and watched the deep bathtub fill with purple bubbles and rose-colored water. When it was full, she shut off the taps and stepped in. If she woke early enough, she preferred to have a bath instead of a shower. It was one of the few luxuries that she allowed herself while she was preparing for the end of year exams.

Sighing, she took a breath and slid all the way to the floor, immersing her entire self and wetting her hair. Coming back up, she reached for the shampoo bottle and twisted the top off. As she was lathering her hair, there was a knock on the door.

"Granger?" Hermione almost groaned. Malfoy was awake early. "Hey, Granger, how much longer are you gonna be in there?"

"Nearly finished," she answered. She sunk back under the water to rinse her hair and came back up to hear him speaking again.

"- and he says that you're taking him to Hogsmeade."

Hermione reached for the conditioner. "What?"

"There's some guys here and one of em says you're taking them to Hogsmeade," Malfoy said in an aggravated tone. "They're not students here, and it's not a Hogsmeade weekend. I want to know what's going on."

"Just let me finish, okay?" Malfoy huffed, and she heard him walk away. _'Great,'_ she thought. _'Now I have to think of something to tell him! And why are they here? We're not supposed to leave for another hour.'_ She ducked under the water again, and then wrung the water out of her hair. She pulled the plug from the drain and when the water was nearly gone, she stepped out of the bath and wrapped her towel around her.

It only took a minute to dress and perform a quick dry charm on her hair, and then she opened the door. She threw her pajamas and dressing gown on her bed and went to the stairs. Hermione paused at the top for a moment, then descended.

The common room that the Heads shared was fairly small and suited for studying rather than hanging out like the Gryffindor common was. It did contain a couch and two armchairs situated around the fireplace, but other wise it contained only two large desks and some bookcases. The walls were grey stone and hanging over the fireplace was yet another tapestry with the Hogwarts crest on it. On either side of the staircase hung a tapestry with the crests of Gryffindor and Slytherin, to represent the houses of the current Heads, and an oil portrait hung on the wall between the two desks.

The four Covenant boys were standing by the entryway, Caleb a little out in front. After seeing them all interact together, Hermione knew that they considered him a leader of sorts. Malfoy was eyeing them from near the fireplace. For not having had time to shower, he looked remarkably well put- together. But then, he always did. She supposed it was some sort of 'Malfoy Code of Honor' or something.

The boys noticed her and she smiled at them. "Want to leave early, I guess?"

Three of them shrugged, and then looked to Caleb. "We woke up early. Not used to the time difference, I guess. Left our room in search of food, got lost. Some girl pointed us in the direction of here."

"Well, if you'll just give me ten minutes, I'll go get my things together. Do you have the money and the lists Dumbledore gave you?" She glanced over at Malfoy, who was obviously listening in.

Caleb nodded. Hermione looked quickly at Malfoy again, and then told the boys to just wait here for her. She went back upstairs and packed a small bag with her wallet, wand, a thin jacket (just in case) and some chap stick. After making sure she had plenty of money, she gave herself a look in the mirror, deemed her appearance acceptable, and went back downstairs.

She had hoped to return before the boys started talking to Malfoy, but she heard their voices floating up the stairs.

"-from America. I guess you could say we're exchange students."

"Hogwarts has never done that before. What part of America? I have a cousin who went to California to be in the muggle movies."

"We're from Massachusetts," she heard Tyler answer, and prayed that he'd stop there. "A little town called Ipswich, near Salem." Hermione's heart sank when she heard Malfoy's sharp intake of breath. He recognized the name. Why, oh why couldn't the Head Boy have been a Hufflepuff! They never would've remembered the town!

"Ipswich? You're wizards from Ipswich? What are your names?" Malfoy had dropped the civil pretense and was all business now. Hermione entered the room to find him looking pointedly at Reid.

"Reid Garwin. And this is Tyler Sims, Pogue Parry, and our fearless leader is Caleb Danvers. Why?"

"I used to have some family in Ipswich, too. Traveled over from England and ended up founding a little colony. Then they disappeared. Funny, though. Their surname was Garwin as well."

* * *

Okay, okay, its miles and miles too short, I know. But I've been busy, and I thought that a short update was better than nothing. Last week my boyfriends great uncle died, so two days were spent at his lay out and funeral, and then I worked all day Saturday (and unfortunately not at the job where I can write). Then this week my boyfriend was switched to night shift, which means he's here during the day, and I can't get anything done!

I'll try to get some more work done, and then I'll add the rest of this chapter (and the review thank you's) as a Chapter 8, Part B. How does that sound?


	10. 8, B: Hogsmeade

_**World Enough**_

**_Chapter 8 – Hogsmeade_**

**Part B**

* * *

Hermione strode through Hogsmeade like a thundering stampede. She was angry, jaw clenched and bits of hair flying wild, having escaped from her haphazard plaits. People got out of her way, and the boys trailed behind, not wanting to endanger themselves by bothering her.

The Covenant boys were looking around nervously, staying together in this strange place where their measurements for their new school uniform were taken by a tape measure all by itself and the candy wasn't always safe to eat. Harry and Ron were taking care of the lists and the money, temporarily assuming Hermione's duties while she raged.

Behind them, Draco Malfoy strutted along with his nose in the air, looking for all the world like nothing unusual was happening.

He had been amazed when these four American strangers came knocking at his door early this morning, but that was nothing compared to the shock he'd received when they said their names. He'd played it fairly cool, as is to be expected of a Malfoy, but inside, he was practically leaping and shouting. Not quite, as childish antics such as that were totally beneath him, but he was excited.

Since birth, it had been pounded into him that he must uphold the family name. As the sole heir to the Malfoy fortune, it was up to him to carry on all the ideals and beliefs held by the countless generations that came before him. And as the last in the line, it was up to him to produce a suitable heir.

But this new development, this long lost family, threw a kink in the works. These Garwins were supposed to have died out long ago, long before his grandfather, even before his grandfather's grandfather, was born. Maybe, just maybe, if he played it right, he might be able to get out of his '_destiny_' as his father called it. _'Destiny,' _snorted Draco. _'More like death sentence.'_

His father wanted him to join the ranks of Death Eaters as soon as he graduated. Originally, he was to join as soon as he turned 17 and came of age in the wizarding world, but it was decided that the Dark Mark would be noticed in a boarding school environment, and it was too valuable to have someone on the 'inside' so Draco won a few more months.

It wasn't that he was a muggle lover or anything. No, he despised muggles as much as the next Malfoy. But he couldn't see pledging his live over to a mad-man.

Draco had used to worship his father, from afar, of course, because of the Malfoy's not bowing down and all, but one night when he was 14 his father had decided he was old enough to attend a Death Eater meeting. Draco was thrilled, but when they'd arrived, the first thing his father had done was gotten down on his knees on the filthy floor and kissed the hem of the Dark Lord's robes.

Draco was repulsed. He supposed that he'd always thought of his father as the 'Right Hand Man' or 'Second in Command.' And from that moment on, his burning desire to become a Death Eater had ebbed away.

And for the past year, he'd been trying unsuccessfully to think of a way out of it. The most obvious idea was to go to Dumbledore, but Draco refused to do that. Just because he didn't want to be a Death Eater didn't mean he wanted to join the madman's suicidal crusade. And he certainly wasn't going to be following Potter, the Boy-Who-Lucked-Out, into battle.

So when he discovered this blood link with the Garwin boy, he'd jumped at the chance to learn more about him and his family. Even if it meant spending a Saturday with Potty, the Weasel and the Bucktoothed Mudblood.

"Erm, Hermione?" Harry said timidly. She whipped around and stared at him. All of the boys shrank back a bit. She had been in this foul mood ever since they'd met with the Headmaster as they were leaving the castle. Apparently, Malfoy had gone to Dumbledore while she and the American boys were rousing Harry and Ron from their dorms. Malfoy had somehow talked the Headmaster into allowing him to accompany them all on their shopping trip, saying how easily Hermione had let the boys secret out and how he would be able to help keep their identities hidden from the Death Eaters.

And Dumbledore had eventually agreed that it would be beneficial for both of the Heads to know what was really going on, and that Malfoy should go too, in order to get to know the boys.

And as soon as they left the castle, Malfoy had started saying nasty things to Hermione about how useless she was outside of book work, how she was just a stupid mudblood, how she must be mentally deficient to let the boys secret spill only 24 hours after they'd gone into hiding and to a suspected Death Eater! He had also implied that she was ugly and ungainly. The final straw was when he called into question her ability to perform her Head Girl duties.

"Um, it's just that we're across the street from the bookstore and they still need to order all of their books. I, um," Harry paused and swallowed. "I was just thinking that since you knew the books the best, maybe you could do that part, and the rest of us could go to Silkman's and buy clothes?"

Hermione nodded and took the proffered list. She turned on her heel and walked across the street. The boys watched as she opened the door to her favorite little shop and it closed behind her. They let out a collective sigh.

"Is she like that often?" Caleb asked.

"Only when she's angry," Harry said.

"She get's angry quite a lot," Ron added helpfully.

"Yes, well, now that the witch is gone, let's go shopping proper," Malfoy said, pushing his way to the front of the group. Harry and Ron looked at each other and shrugged, then followed Malfoy as he rounded the corner and set off down a side street.

He led them through a maze of streets and alleys before stopping in front of a building they'd never seen before. A small red and white sign was fixed just above the door and the windows were tinted heavily. "This is the best clothing store in all of England," Malfoy said, gesturing for the boys to enter. Warily, Harry went first and the others followed.

Inside, the room resembled a nightclub more than a clothing store. There was a bar with stools and pulsating music. There were long low couches and girls in skimpy clothes serving fancy cocktails. The only indication that it wasn't a club was the racks of clothing that suited men were bringing out to be perused by the customers.

"Boys," Malfoy said stepping to the front of the group, "Welcome to Dragonhide."

* * *

Hermione sat on an ottoman in a small alcove in the corner. She held a book open in front of her and breathed in the scent of new pages. She had left the list of books with the clerk and had come here while she waited, to cool off. She knew that she had gone overboard being angry with Malfoy in front of the American boys, and was particularly embarrassed about looking insane in front of Tyler.

She hoped that Harry and Ron were handling taking them to Silkman's, a local men's clothing store, on their own.

* * *

The boys sprawled out on the largest couch in the center of the room. They had their own personal waitress and an entire team of consultants bringing out rack after rack of clothes. Malfoy presided over the whole affair like a spoiled prince, a role Harry was sure he was quite accustomed to. "How about these, Mr. Malfoy? These are pieces from our most recent line, constructed of the finest silks and cashmeres." The consultant held out a silk shirt in a deep cobalt blue, pairing it with black trousers and dragonhide boots. Malfoy examined it critically, and then directed the man to add the outfit to Tyler's pile, and a matching one in forest green went to Reid's. Next came a tan cashmere jumper, relegated to Caleb. The next three pieces were vetoed, and a black dragonhide jacket was ordered for each boy.

The waitress kept them supplied with fresh drinks and no one asked for ID of any kind. ("I'm a Malfoy," Malfoy had said. "That still means something in places like this.") The consultant whisked away the shirts and jackets and came back with more shoes and boots. Malfoy added a few to each boys haul, and the next thing out was a display of watches, necklaces, cufflinks, earrings, sunglasses, wallets and all sorts of things Harry would have never considered looking for today. This time, as Malfoy picked out pieces for the boys, he surprised them all by throwing in a watch and sunglasses for Ron and Harry. Ron refused, but Malfoy paid him no mind. "The Malfoy vaults are limitless, Weasley, and I'm tired of hearing you ask everyone the time."

The boys watched Malfoy at work for over an hour and then finally he rose, signaling their shopping spree was complete. Someone, possibly a manager, rushed over, to make sure everything was satisfactory and would the gentleman like to take his things now or have them delivered. Malfoy asked, commanded, more like, that everything be delivered to Hogwarts by dinnertime, and that it all be added to the Malfoy account.

They met Hermione on a bench outside the bookshop. She was halfway through a new novel and had a single bag sitting beside her. "I didn't think you were ever coming back! Where on Earth have you been? Where are your clothes?"

"They're being delivered. Where's the books?" Caleb asked.

"Right here," Hermione said, gesturing to her bag. "I shrunk them all down to fit. You have quite a haul between the four of you."

"You should see all of their clothes." Ron grumbled, without much feeling behind it.

"I'll see it later. Right now it's time to head back to the castle, or else we'll miss supper. I had hoped to stop at the apothecary, but you took too long. I'll have to do it another day." She headed down the street, determined to ignore Malfoy for the rest of the weekend.

Back at the castle, they arrived just as dessert was being served. Hermione checked in with Dumbledore, and he directed Dobby to serve them in the boys' room. There, she distributed the books to their proper owners and looked over their time sheets until the food arrived.

After dinner, she decided it would be prudent to take them on a tour of the castle, or at least show them where the important places were: the library, their classrooms, the Great Hall, the bathrooms, the Owlery, and the doors to the outside. Out there, she showed them the greenhouses, introduced them to Hagrid, warned them away from the Forbidden Forest and the Giant Squid, and attempted to explain Quidditch. "You're not exactly the best person to talk about Quidditch," Malfoy interrupted. "Seeing as how you hate to fly and all."

"Malfoy. Don't you have better things to do than to follow us around all day?"

"No, not really." He grinned at her and she pursed her lips. He then spend about 20 long minutes regaling the boys with Quidditch tales, and then finally summoned his broom and showed them how to fly. Reid and Pogue, of course, took to it immediately, Reid always being up for anything and Pogue finding it quite a lot like riding his Ducati.

Caleb hesitated, but Tyler tried it out after Pogue. Hermione threw up her hands and headed back to the castle after Caleb gave in and took the broom for a low lap. After a bit, Harry and Ron appeared, carrying their brooms and a few school brooms, old Cleansweeps.

Hermione came back with her backpack and spread out on the bleachers, trying to look entirely uninterested. While Harry, Ron, and Malfoy taught the boys some tricks, a group of girls made their way into the stands.

Reid, naturally, noticed them first and said something to the other boys. Caleb shook his head and flew off with Harry and Ron, but Reid, Pogue, Tyler and Malfoy angled their brooms downward.

Hermione wasn't close enough to hear their conversation, but she knew who the girls were. The first one, with her short, choppy black hair was Anna Wilds, a 7th year Ravenclaw who had been sort-of seeing Malfoy a few months ago. Her friends were Angelique Coudray and Samantha Zisko, both Ravenclaw 6th years, and Lana Lang, a Gryffindor 6th year.

Hermione had never shared a class with any of them, but she knew of them. They were all in the top half of their classes and took some challenging courses, but they each had their different reputations: Anna was 'emo' and apparently quite offensive, though Hermione had never experienced that. Angelique was a 'bad girl,' the one who was always in trouble and went with a lot of different boys. Sammy was loud, often hyper. If they had cheerleaders for their Quidditch teams, Sammy would've been a shoo-in for Captain. She knew Lana best, being in the same house, and wasn't able to categorize her as easily. She knew the Asian girl was smart and spoke a tiny bit of French, and that she loved to play pool.

Anna was talking to Malfoy and Tyler seemed to have the attentions of both Lana and Samantha. Samantha, or Sammy, as she liked to be called, had her long blonde hair in a ponytail and was holding a few books to her chest. Tyler must've mentioned them, because she held them out for him to take and Hermione could see that they were muggle Mangas. He thumbed through them and pointed to page, and Lana tossed her dark hair and moved into Angelique and Pogue's conversation.

Hermione looked back to the sky where the other three boys were just coming down to land. Hermione checked her watch and found that it was nearly 7:30. The sun was sinking into the lake and everyone one else who had wandered outside after dinner had already gone in. Caleb walked over to the others and Harry and Ron walked to her.

"Hey, I think we're done. Caleb's kinda irritated that the other boys went off with the girls. He says they're '_not here to further Reid's reputation'_ or something like that." Harry grinned at Ron's impression of the American boy's accent, but stopped joking when Caleb walked over with the extra brooms.

"Here's their brooms, if you wanna put them away. I guess they're done with them for now. I can tell Pogue and Reid want one. We can fly, sort of, but we have to _Use_ to do it, and it's a strain, but with these things, it's effortless. The way that you all have adapted your power is incredible to me. We never knew anything like this place existed, and I kinda hope that this thing with Chase takes a while so I can learn as much as I can from you."

The four of them, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Caleb set off for the broom shed to return the brooms, and then headed back up to the castle. Behind them a good fifty yards were the others, laughing and talking. Caleb glanced back once and noticed that Draco Malfoy seemed to be trailing the others, not quite a part of their high spirits, and that Tyler was, again, ducking his head in embarrassment, face flushed, as Reid slapped him on the back and made some comment to the girls.

He shook his head and sighed. No matter where they were, and what was going on, there were some things that would never change.

* * *

* * *

A/N's- Whew! This part seemed to take forever! I apologize for that, and I know that Draco and Hermione both seemed OOC in parts. I re-wrote this part about 6 times, and I'm still not entirely happy with how it came out, but at least I got the shopping over, Draco meeting the boys, their first conversation with the girls (which you notice I left dialogue-free because I had an awful time of it!), and had a little bit of them getting acquainted with the things that the HP characters do all the time.

I hope that the next chapter doesn't take as long, but with Christmas in a week, my little boy, and my strange work schedule, I'm not going to make any promises.

Thanks to all my reviewers who've hung in there!

From Chapter 7- RedRogue, La Rose Noir, kEs-2717, Crikes, twotoe, Angelique-du-Coudray1, Rotem, Marah, SweetRocks, emma-bug, valaarien, bandgsecurityaw, animefanqueen, RuByMoOn17, and prettybeka.

From Chapter 8, Part A- RedRogue, SweetRocks, Crikes, irishartemis (love your name!), kEs-2717, animefanqueen (I had to make up Sammy's surname and house. Hope it's OK!), Angeliqueducoudray1, xlexisx, prettybeka, RuByMoOn17, Purple Raveness, and SweetRocks.

Sorry that you don't like it, anonymous reviewer, but your argument that the Covenant boys are too old makes no sense, because they are the same age as the HP characters. Just stop reading it if you don't like it!


	11. 9, The Insquequo Curse

Whew! This chapter took quite a while as well, and I do apologize. My internet connection has been not so good. It keeps shutting off or refusing to open webpages or even email. And also, my little boy has been sick. Fevers of 102, and a rash, and just generally not sleeping or acting like himself. Pretty much all better now, though, so Yay! Thanks for sticking with me!

_**

* * *

World Enough**_

**_Chapter 9 - The Insquequo Curse_**

* * *

History of Magic was Reid's favorite class. Not because he was at all interested in History, of course, but because no one gave a damn if he slept through the whole thing.

That was where he was right now, in the ghost Professor's class, sitting between a window and Draco Malfoy, who was also sleeping. In front of him was a short, dark-haired girl with, in Reid's opinion, a very poor attitude. She was awake, fastidiously taking notes on curious deaths of Burmese kings including one who actually laughed himself to death, and shooting dirty looks at him and Draco. Her name was Pansy Parkinson, and Draco said 'the best way to deal with Parkinson is to ignore her."

Reid ignored her. Behind him and Draco sat two very large boys, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. Crabbe and Goyle trailed along after Draco like little puppies, or maybe more accurately, bodyguards. He only seemed to be rid of them in the library, advanced classes, and when he was doing Head Boy duties. Draco said to ignore them, too. Actually, now that he thought about it, Draco said to ignore pretty much everyone.

Other Slytherins that Draco identified were Millicent Bulstrode, a large girl in every way possible, Blaise Zambini, a tall black boy. The rest of the class was made up mainly of Ravenclaws, and a couple other Slytherins who Draco didn't associate with.

Over the course of the week, Reid had attended several classes. All of them were with Draco and the other Slytherins, but his other friends and Covenant brothers were in some of them. He had Divination (where they studied fortune-telling), Potions, Care of Magical Creatures (where they learned about animals Reid never knew existed), Herbology (where they tended to magical plants), Ancient Runes (they learned to read the runes used by different wizarding cultures throughout the ages), History of Magic, Astronomy, and, of course, their private classes with Aine.

They also had a few free periods when the other students had classes that they weren't signed up for. Classes like Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Arithmancy. During these, they usually went to their common room or the library. Dumbledore had discussed their schedule with them earlier that week, saying that those classes simply used too much magic to be safe for the boys. Once he and Professor Snape did more research on their curse, they might find a way to lift it. If they lifted it, it wasn't clear yet if the boys would be the same, just without the life force drain, or if they would become much like everyone else, and have to use a wand to perform magic.

He also said that some days the teachers just do theory, and no new spells are taught, and on those days the boys were welcome to sit in with their house.

Things went this way for the next three weeks. Reid became friendly with Draco Malfoy, and Caleb and Pogue were welcomed into Gryffindor with open arms. The only one of them who seemed to be having trouble making a place for himself at Hogwarts was Tyler.

Tyler had been placed with the Ravenclaws, and whenever he could, he deserted his House and sat with one of the other ones. He said that the Ravenclaws refused to include him in their weekly study sessions, that they were often rude to him about his not being able to practice spells and charms like they were and about his lack of magical schooling, and that he thought sometimes that they were afraid of him, and what they had witnessed of his ascension.

That had happened just three days into their attending classes, and Tyler was in an Astronomy theory class, making up a chart of the planets the class was to map the next night. He was writing _'Fifth planet, Jupiter. Diameter, 142,800 km. No. of Moons, 39. Surface Gravity, 2,312 cm/s2. Rings?, Yes. Kms. from Sun, 778, 412, 020.'_ when the first stabbing pains hit. He glanced at his watch and then remembered that it had stopped working properly when they'd arrived at the school. Dumbledore said it was because of the magical interference. He dropped his quill, dripping ink all over _'Second Planet, Venus.'_ and ran out of class. He only made it halfway down the corridor when it really hit him.

He dropped to his knees as the pain intensified, and the corridor lit up around him as the magic slammed into him like a lightening bolt. Pulses of power came down, slamming into him over and over, and he cried out, unable to help himself. When the agony finally ended and the remains of the magic was crackling through the air around him, Tyler realized that the other members of the class had looked out the door to see why he ran, and had seen it all anyway.

That was two weeks ago, and the only ones who treated him the same were the three girls they met on the Quidditch pitch, and the other Ravenclaw outcast, Luna Lovegood.

She was a blonde, blue-eyed witch who was a year younger than they all were. She was flighty and prone to making bizarre statements about imaginary animals and curses, and the other Ravenclaws refused to acknowledge her existence.

"I mean, she's nice enough, but she's just so _weird_," Tyler was telling Reid. "There's no way to hold a logical conversation with her. She fits in to that house even less than I do, and that's really saying something." Tyler ducked suddenly as the potion they were brewing started sending up sparks. Aine was taking a few days to review some of the things they should've learnt in the earlier years at school that were needed now to accomplish some of the new things they were trying to learn in their classes.

"Sorry! I dropped in too much of that red one," Reid said from the other side of the desk. Aine came over, waved her wand, and the whole mess disappeared. The boys stood back up. "Sorry. I mistook that red one for the Shrivel Fig and dropped too much in."

"That's okay. So long as it happened here and not in Snape's class, the greasy git. He'd fail you on it without hesitation. Well, maybe not you, since you're a Slytherin, but the rest of us for sure. Start over, there's plenty of time." Aine went on to glance into the cauldron that Caleb and Pogue were using. Their potion was exactly the right shade of orange and she complimented them. Caleb blushed, but Pogue smiled at her and flirted a little bit.

Aine replied to him and then went back to her desk, but when she turned Reid could see a very faint flush on her cheeks. He nudged Tyler in the ribs, but Pogue shot them a dirty look.

Just as Tyler was measuring out the ingredients again, Dumbledore swept in with the greasy git himself in tow. Dumbledore spoke to Aine for a brief moment while Snape looked over their potions with a sneer. Before he could say anything, Dumbledore began speaking. "Good afternoon, gentlemen. I trust your morning has gone well. As you know, Professor Snape and I have been researching your curse, and we think we may have a lead. It is obviously a blood curse since it has passed through several generations. That means it is passed on directly through what muggles call genetics, just like eye or hair color. The muggles have worked out a way to look at the genes themselves through science, to discover which gene certain people have for which thing. We have worked out a magical way to do this, and we would like to take a small bit of each of your blood and analyze it, see if we can't pin down the curse itself."

The four boys looked at one another and came to a quick decision. They would do it.

"Excellent," said Dumbledore. "Professor, if you would." Snape pulled four vials and a small silver knife from his robes.

"If you would each extend your arm, I will make a small cut. As soon as your vial is full, I will heal the cut," explained Snape. "Understood?"

The boys nodded, and pushed back their sleeves. Pogue was first, and Snape nicked his forearm. The red liquid began to flow, and Snape pressed the mouth of the vial to the wound. It filled quickly, Snape passed his wand over it once and the cut sealed. Then he stoppered the vial, labeled it 'Parry' and moved on to Caleb. Next was Tyler, and finally, Reid.

He rubbed his forearm and watched as the faint pink line disappeared.

Snape nodded at Dumbledore and swept out of the room, robes billowing out behind him. Dumbledore turned back to Aine. "Thank you, Professor Burke, for allowing me to take up the remainder of your time this afternoon. Gentlemen, would you be so kind as to escort an old man to dinner?"

The said their goodbyes to Aine and walked with Dumbledore to the Great Hall. It was a Thursday, so their last class was at 2, and they spent from 3:30 to 5:30 with Aine, and then went to dinner. During that same time period, Hermione took Arithmancy and Harry and Ron had Divination in the highest tower.

When they arrived in the Hall, Hermione was already there, sitting with Ginny. She had a huge smile on her face and was making frantic hand gestures, describing some new class project that she was starting. Reid nodded to Draco across the room and the four Covenant boys sat at the Gryffindor table.

Harry and Ron arrived seconds after they did, going on about some ridiculous death prediction concerning Harry, a warehouse full of cardboard boxes, and a faulty sprinkler system. This was an especially nice time for that particular prediction, as that class they began pyromancy, divination by looking into fire, and capnomancy, by studying the passage of smoke.

While they ate, they listened to Hermione describe her project again, twice, and about Ginny's disastrous first attempt at today's animal transfiguration. "The first half went all right, but when the back legs started to turn, they got stuck, and the tail never went at all. What I was left with was the head and neck of a fuzzy yellow duckling, with furry wings, and the back half of a tabby with flat webbed feet. It was awful looking, and couldn't walk at all. The poor thing was making the most pitiful quacks and squeaks and kept trying to scratch at itself with those webbed feet. McGonnagall had to put it right for me."

Ginny shook her head. "I did okay when it was mice to chipmunks, but now we're onto one animal into something totally different."

When dinner was over and they could be sure no one was listening in, the Gryffindor trio met the boys in their common room. To their immense surprise, Draco was already there, lounging back in the largest armchair. "Potty, Weasel. Too bad you're without your usual stack of books, Granger. Makes it so that I can see your face." He smirked and Ron pulled out his wand and threatened him. Malfoy put his hand to his cheek in mock horror. "Oh, no! You're going to curse me! Say, I hope you don't end up belching slugs again. Wouldn't that be awful?" He rolled his eyes and looked at the American boys to see if they heard.

Tyler obviously did, and was giving him dirty looks, and he was fairly sure Reid had also heard, but didn't seem to care. Pogue and the dorky one, Caleb, were oblivious.

Coming over to where everyone had gathered, Caleb told about the blood drawing and Dumbledore's theory. Hermione immediately launched into several theories of her own, and Draco zoned out. He had no need to listen to her irritating voice. Instead, he pondered upon why Tyler seemed to extra angry at him after his comments to Ron. Draco knew that Tyler was friendly with the Weasel, but not overly so. Not enough for some simple sarcasm to irritate him. Draco came back to the conversation for a moment, but the group was still theorizing about the blood draw, so he went back to his own musings. Perhaps Tyler was gay and had a secret mad crush on Weasel. It would explain why Tyler wasn't jumping all over those two 6th year twits that were throwing themselves at him. What were their names again? Long, or maybe Lang. 'Yes, that's it, Lang,' Draco thought. nodding to himself. 'And the other one is Zisko, that Ravenclaw who carries around the Japanese comics.'

If she wasn't a mudblood, Draco would've considered her, with that blonde hair and big blue eyes. She was friends with Wilds, the girl he saw for a while last year.

The rest of the group had apparently run out of nutty theories, because when Draco started listening again, they were talking about next weeks Hogsmeade weekend. The Weasel was explaining about how usually students were only allowed off of school grounds on certain weekends, and it was only because of Dumbledore's special permission that they had been allowed out that first weekend.

Potter said, "Yeah, and we'll be able to hit all the fun shops this time, not just the necessary ones. We can go in the Quidditch supply store, Honeydukes, the sweets shoppe, and WWW. That's Ron's brother's shop, Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. It's the greatest joke shop you'll ever see in your life, and Fred and George came up with every single item themselves."

Hermione pressed her lips together, making it very clear that she did not approve at all of a joke shop. The boys resolutely ignored her.

"We'll have to meet up and go together. I don't remember how we got there last time," Tyler said to Hermione. Draco and Reid both noticed the slightest flush to his cheeks and concluded that he was making a small stab at asking her out.

"Yes, of course! We'll all meet just outside the Great Hall before we check in with Filtch- He checks the names of all the students who leave, so the school doesn't loose track of anyone- and we can walk together."

Tyler bit his lip, and Reid came to his, er... rescue.

"No, what Tyler is saying is that he wants to go with _you_, and not with all of us tagging along." Tyler's face went crimson, and as what Reid was saying dawned on her, so did Hermione's.

"Oh! I didn't- I mean, I wasn't, um. All right." She ducked her head for a second to compose herself. 'Oh, my God! It's like a real date! Like when Victor asked me to the Ball,' she thought. She said, "Yes, Tyler, I would love to go to Hogsmeade with you."

In his chair by the fire, Draco mimed retching to Reid and Pogue.

* * *

At breakfast the next morning, the entire group, save poor Tyler, was on their way to Potions when Harry gasped and slapped his palm to his forehead. When he took it away, his lightening-bolt scar was a dull red color. "It's _him_," Harry said to Hermione and Ron. "_Voldemort_," he added for the boys. "He's...Frustrated and angry. I- I haven't said anything, but I've been having dreams again. I didn't say because they're never more than a few moments long, and the details are always fuzzy, but I know its Voldemort. There's always another, sometimes it's Wormtail, sometimes Lestrange, but mostly it's _your_ boy, Chase."

"What's he doing?"

"What's who doing?" Malfoy asked, coming up just as Caleb was speaking.

"Chase and Voldemort," Reid answered him, despite the Trio's frantic gestures not to.

"How would Potter know what they're doing? He hasn't gone of to fight evil in the past few hours, has he?"

"No, but he has dreams, and his scar went red..." At that point Hermione and Ron both lunged forward and slapped their hands over Reid's mouth.

Draco looked sharply at Harry, and then glanced around to see if anyone else was in the hall before he spoke. "You have to see that monster in your sleep, too? He's been over to the Manor, to see my father- I can say it now that he's in Azkaban- and I can feel it when he apparates in. It's worse than a Dementor."

"I don't know about that. You don't hear what I head when they're near," Harry said, and then seemed to realize who he was speaking to. "Wait, aren't you next in line for the Mark, Malfoy? Following right in Daddy's footsteps? I bet you'd love to have been the one Voldemort was meeting with, handing out murder missions."

Draco scowled. "Shut up Potter. You have no idea what you're talking about. I'm not a Death Eater, and I've never killed anyone, not do I want to. While I can support most of his ideals, I don't hold with his methods, and as a half-blood himself, he's the last one to be a pureblood leader." He looked around again, to make sure no other students were coming near. "Best thing that ever happened to me was you getting my father arrested."

He shoved through their group and swept down the hall, doing an impressive imitation of Snape.

The Gryffindors and Reid all looked at one another.

"Well," said Ron, "That was strange."

The rest of Potions passed as quickly as could be expected, with Snape peering over their shoulders and making caustic remarks. They were preparing to brew Polyjuice potion, and were using this class period to make certain they had the correct ingredients in ample quantities, write a 5 inch essay on how to find a boomslang skin in the wild, and 10 inches on the uses and misuses of the potion, both due at the end of the period.

Harry was thankful that they weren't actually going to start on the potion today, because of his splitting headache. He knew from experience that it was a complicated project and if the first few steps weren't done exactly right, there wouldn't be time to start over and he didn't want to give Snape the pleasure of marking another big fat zero in his book.

When class was finally over, and everyone except for Crabbe and Goyle had turned in both essays, Snape dismissed class and Harry went into the bathroom to check his scar. He wasn't going to go to the hospital wing for a headache potion until the redness went away. He didn't want Madame Pomfrey asking difficult questions. As he looked in the mirror, he suddenly felt dizzy and he leaned on the sink for support. Bright white pain hit him again and he felt like his head was splitting open. He groaned and went down on one knee just as Ron and Pogue opened the door. They ran in and each grabbed an arm before Harry fell over. Reid and Caleb followed, and Hermione stood at the door, hands over her mouth.

After the largest flare of pain went away, Harry's friends walked him down to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey forced them to go back to class and leave Harry to her, so they had no choice but to leave. Reid walked up to Ancient Runes while the other four went to grab their cloaks. Their next class was Herbology, in the greenhouses outside.

After those classes was lunch and they all met back at the hospital wing, but were unable to see Harry because he was speaking with Dumbledore. After lunch, Ron and Hermione had Charms and the Slytherins had Transfiguration, so Reid, Caleb, and Pogue went back to their common room. Tyler was already there when they arrived, having skipped lunch in favor of getting away from the Ravenclaws.

They filled him in on what was happening and shortly, someone knocked on their portrait door. Caleb rose to open it, but it swung open on its own and Dumbledore came in. "Headmaster! How's Harry?"

"Mr. Potter is quite well now, and has just joined Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger in their Charms lesson. I came to inform you that Professor Snape has been hard at work analyzing your blood samples and he has made a few discoveries. He has been able to isolate the particles that carry the original curse, as well as a few other curses. There are four curses, in total, but we have, so far, only been able to identify one. It is an ancient curse, probably one that your ancestors learned before they separated from the rest of our world. This curse is called 'Insquequo vos es adultus' and it was a way that wizards used to bind the magic of their children until they were adults. Its use was deemed illegal by the Warlocks' Council of 1734, after several deaths occurred due to the children's accidental magic not interceding on the children's behalf."

"What do you mean," Caleb asked.

"When wizard children are small, they haven't yet learned to control their magic, and it sometimes fires unintentionally. And if the child is in a life or death situation, their magic usually saves them. Many times, having a near-death experience is how muggleborn witches or wizards discover their magic. I believe Mr. Longbottom, though not muggleborn, discovered his latent magic after a fall from a high window. When he hit the ground, instead of being terribly mangled, he bounced. And Mr. Potter, who grew up in the muggle world like yourselves, managed several times to escape from bullying schoolchildren by suddenly finding himself on the room.

"Since you your ancestors placed the Insquequo Curse on your family that would not have happened to any of you. Your ancestors must've realized that the accidental magic would significantly cut back your lifespan and wanted to make sure it never happened. We believe that this curse is what caused the ability to use your powers to occur at 13, when you would have been considered a man in times gone by, and then the 'ascension' at 18 years of age when you were fully grown and thus worthy of controlling your own power. We can easily lift it, however it won't help any of you since you are already of age. Lifting it will, however, apply to future generations, so if you will please stand before me."

The boys did as he asked, trying not to think about how exactly a future generation would come about. They were all only 18, for goodness sake, and not nearly ready to think about children.

Dumbledore pushed back his sleeves, raised his wand, and said, "Haud , permissum lemma have is iam." A fine purple mist poured out the end of his wand and grew thick around their feet. It swirled up around their legs and torsos, and then enveloped then completely. It smelt of freshly baked cake, and very soon it dissipated. Within a minute, it was as if it had never been there at all. "There. One curse down, three to go." He smiled softly at then, and bid then good day. He departed swiftly, and the boys stood there, fidgeting, not knowing what to do with themselves.

* * *

The Latin towards the end of this chapter was done through an online translator, so I can't guarantee its accuracy. Bonus points and a name cameo for whoever get's the English translation correct.

Also, some of the weird facts in this chapter (the forms of divination, the Jupiter info, and the Burmese king who laughed himself to death) are actually true facts, and I'm sometimes sorry that my head is clogged with things like that.

I know Draco's acting weird, talking bad about his father and everything, but remember, he's still trying to make sure he's in good with the others. His father promised a Malfoy heir to Voldemort, and Draco is making sure he's in a position to offer Reid up as that heir instead of him. Besides, you just know that's what he's really thinking anyway.

And most importantly, thanks so much to all of my reviewers!

**Likeadoll, sky's girl forever, Angellinn, animefanqueen, Sweet Rocks, Purple Raveness, Marah, RedRogue,** and **Angeliqueducoudray1**.

**Marc1233**: I tried to email you a response to your review, but you're not a registered site member and the email you left is bad. So:

You must've not read my author's note where I said that for the purposes of this fic, the Harry Potter line from the movie needs to be omitted. And you're right about Harry's dreams, they usually only have Voldemort in them, but there was at least one I can think of that had Nagini instead, and sometimes Voldemort is only in a tiny part of them, so I took great liberties with his dreams to insert Chase.

I think that they would be surprised about the HP world. There's much, much more going on than just using wands. It would be like if an Amish person was dropped in the middle of New York City. Amish people aren't stupid, I'm sure they know what a car is and that the lights are powered by electricity, but don't you think they'd be overwhelmed by all of the everything anyway? That's not the best analogy, I know, but it's the best I could to at 1:36 am.

And as for the 'flaw' about them using too much magic, obviously everyone who has seen the movie will notice that one and I assure you I don't need to 'ponder' it anymore. I don't plan for the boys to turn into old men while they're at Hogwarts, and as I've told other reviewers before, it's going to be taken care of. Thanks for your review!


	12. 10 The Curse of the Malfoys

A/N: This starts right off from where the last chapter left off, so you may want to go back and read the last few paragraphs again. I know it's been a while. ::cringes::

* * *

Hermione was, naturally, very interested in the curse Dumbledore had countered on the boys. They explained what they knew about it, and then she all but ran to the library to look up everything about it. So the boys, left then to their own devices, went out to the Quidditch pitch to fly. 

Harry and Ron divided the group into teams of three and they played with the Quaffle for a while. Ron and Harry were the opposing Keepers, and Caleb and Pogue played on Ron's team, while Reid and Tyler completed Harry's. It was a decent game, and after an hour had gone by, Harry's team was up by 30 points. Caleb had the Quaffle, and as he slowed down to pass it to Pogue, Tyler swept by and plucked it right out of his upraised arm. He threw it to Reid, who was waiting behind him and then flew straight at Pogue, who was attempting to intercept Reid's path toward Ron's goal posts.

Pogue was forced to swerve, and Reid flew easily by. Caleb was chasing after him, but Reid had too big of a lead. He arced towards the right goalpost and then at the last second threw towards the middle.

But Ron wasn't Gryffindor Keeper for nothing, and he quickly spotted the fake and caught the ball before it reached the hoop. He tossed it to Caleb, who had re-grouped with Pogue and flew at Harry side-by-side. Caleb threw the ball to Pogue who spun and flew towards the top of the right goalpost. But instead of attempting to score, he threw the Quaffle back to Caleb, who flew towards the outside edge of the left hoop.

Harry, who had flew towards Pogue to intercept his goal, spun to get to Caleb, but before he got there, Caleb threw the ball back to Pogue, who scored. "Damn!" Harry flew down to retrieve the ball and nearly beheaded Malfoy, who had just stepped onto the pitch. Harry jerked his Firebolt aside at the last second and Malfoy scowled at him.

"Watch it, Potter! Maybe you ought to have those glasses checked, seems you can't see bloody anything. You obviously didn't see that play coming! Weasel down there could've caught that one from a mile away." It was almost a compliment to Ron, but for the nasty tone of voice he used. He brushed invisible dirt from his immaculately clean robes and turned to Caleb.

"The Headmaster wants to see you four. Said something about another curse, and that you should meet him in the Potions classroom. Also, Potter and Weasley," Malfoy glared at the Gryffindors in question, "He said you and Granger are welcome to come, since you'll find out about it anyway."

"Hermione's probably still in the library," Ron said to Harry. "I'll get her, and we'll meet you down there." He went off, taking the Quaffle and the four school brooms with him. He headed towards the storage shed between the locker rooms and disappeared from view.

The Sons of Ipswich looked at one another. "I wonder what it is this time," Caleb said, starting towards the school. "Hopefully, they've got the aging thing figured."

"I doubt it. It's probably just something else that doesn't mean anything," Reid muttered, always the pessimist. "Something your kids will get that won't matter to us."

"Your kids, too, Reid." Tyler looked crossways at him. "Not just Caleb's, all of ours."

"Whatever," said Reid, kicking at a rock.

The six boys arrived at the castle and went down the first stairway. They took a back passageway to the dungeons that few students knew about, and ended up in the proper hallway had they come down the usual way, just on the opposite direction of the classroom. Thus, Professor Snape was looking the other way for them, and was startled when Harry spoke. "Professor?"

He uncharacteristically jumped and spun around, wand at the ready and eyes blazing. He dropped it immediately when he saw who it was and narrowed his eyes. He scowled at them, and ushered them into the classroom.

Dumbledore was already inside, sitting at the Professor's desk, smiling in that mystifying way that he had. Snape asked, "Are you ready to begin Headmaster?"

"I believe that two more members of your party are still on their way?" Dumbledore asked, addressing Caleb. Caleb looked at Harry and then nodded.

"Ron was getting Hermione from the library."

"I had thought as much. She's still busily researching, yes? Let's have you all in the front, then. No need to spread out so much." They looked at themselves and realized that they had in fact dropped into their customary potions class seats, Harry on the far right, second table from the back, Draco opposite him on the far left with Reid behind him, Caleb and Pogue in the center table, and Tyler in the very front row. They couldn't possibly have taken up more of the room. Grinning in a slightly embarrassed sort of way, they all migrated forwards.

Reid took a seat directly behind Tyler, Caleb and Pogue moved forward two tables, Draco sat behind Pogue, across the aisle from Reid, and Harry sat at the empty front table. They could hear two sets of feet running down the hall, so they waited until Hermione and Ron rushed in, out of breath. Ron dropped heavily into a seat at Harry's table. "She made us run all the way from the library, so she wouldn't miss anything," Ron panted, rolling his eyes.

Hermione may have flushed slightly, but it was hard to tell because her cheeks were already red from breathing heavily. She lifted her chin, cleared her throat and settled into the empty seat next to Tyler, who did flush.

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, and Snape's narrowed. "May we begin, Headmaster? I do have other duties to attend to this afternoon."

"Absolutely, Severus. I wouldn't want to keep you unnecessarily. Shall I explain?" Snape inclined his head slightly, and Dumbledore continued. "As I'm sure you are aware, Professor Snape has managed to isolate a second blood curse. This one was slightly difficult to decipher and as it turned out, was done in Welsh, a language we were not aware your ancestors were familiar with. It seems they were Wales at some point in the journeys.

"This particular curse seems to be one of a kind, created especially for them, as we have no record of it anywhere. We applied it to a batch of doxy eggs, and only one hatched, a male. We magically enhanced his growth so that he was a reproducing adult in less than a day, and then we analyzed the eggs that his mate laid. The eggs were all empty, except for one, which contained yet another son. We then analyzed the blood of that son and found that the curse had been carried through the two generations intact. Through trial and error, we were able to write a counter-curse that allowed all of the doxy eggs to hatch, as well as contain both male and female offspring.

"We have no guarantee that this counter-curse will work on humans, but if you would consent, we will perform it on you, and then draw more blood and see if it worked." Dumbledore looked at the teens expectantly.

The Covenant boys looked at each other uneasily. Hermione waited a moment, and then asked a question. "Headmaster, you said the eggs were empty? All of them? Not even a yolk?"

"Yes. The curse specifies that each cursed person will only have one child, a son. The first two doxies actually laid two sets of eggs, but the second set was entirely empty. Just a fragile, empty shell."

"That's just...sad." Hermione chewed on the end of her quill for a moment. As an only child, she had always wanted a younger sister, and as she grew older had known that she wanted to have a large family. The idea that the women of these cursed families could never even dream about that saddened her greatly.

After another moment of silence, Caleb spoke up. "We'll do it, we're ready."

Dumbledore smiled, and then drew his wand from a coat pocket. Making a complicated series of jerking motions with his wand, he said "Ad 'r Celi at ddethol ai hychwaneg ai ferch!"

A beam of pink light appeared at the end of it, and Dumbledore directed it towards Caleb. It settled on his chest, and pulses of gold followed the pink beam and were absorbed by Caleb's body. After a moment, the pink light faded, and with a final gold pulse, disappeared.

Caleb put his hand on his chest where the pulses had hit and rubbed. Then he lifted his shirt to reveal a darkened area, the color of a deep tan, right where his heart should be. This was where the pulses had gone in.

"That was... bizarre. Did it work?" Caleb asked, again rubbing the spot through his shirt. It was hot, but didn't exactly hurt.

"We can take some blood and look at it, and if it did work, we can perform the counter on your Covenant brothers."

Caleb didn't answer, but rolled up his sleeve. Snape opened a drawer in his desk and drew out a glass phial and the same silver knife. He came around the desk and made a shallow cut in Caleb's arm, filled the phial half-full, and then Dumbledore healed the cut.

"I will take this to my private workroom and analyze it. I shall return in twenty to thirty minutes. Do not open the supply cabinet." Snape swept out of the room through a side door, and shut it firmly behind him.

"How did that feel?" Tyler scooted his chair towards Caleb. Hermione actually climbed out of her chair and walked over to him, to get a better look.

"It was really warm, but not hot enough to hurt, and it was like... I dunno, it was kinda like warm water going in right there and filling me up. I don't know how else to say it.."

As they watched, the mark on Caleb's chest grew lighter, and after about ten minutes, it was gone. He rubbed his fingers across it. "Nothing."

They attempted to make small talk for the next twenty minutes, not really feeling comfortable discussing much in front of the Headmaster. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Snape came back and announced the curse to be gone.

Pogue and Tyler immediately stood. Reid heaved a long-suffering sigh and rose to his feet. The counter was preformed on all of them in turn, and Snape and the Headmaster left them to examine their marks. Pogue being much tanner than the other three could barely see his mark after just a few minutes. Tyler's went away in the same amount of time that Caleb's had, but Reid's mark was an angry red that showed no signs of abating.

Hermione looked at it closely, and then went after Dumbledore. Behind where the other boys stood, Draco sucked in a breath. His mind raced, but he was unable to come up with anything rational before Dumbledore returned. At the moment, his best plan was to just throw himself between his cousin and the headmaster and try to stun everyone, and he didn't think that would work out in the end.

"So you see, Professor," Hermione was saying as she led him into the room, "the mark hasn't lessened at all. If anything, I think it may be getting worse." And indeed it was. While she had been gone, the beginnings of blisters had risen in the center of the mark.

Draco fidgeted in his seat while Dumbledore examined the mark, and bit his lip when the Headmaster performed a healing charm. It backfired tremendously, causing the tiny blisters to swell to titanic proportions and burst. "Fuck!" Reid swore and jumped back from Dumbledore, knocking one of the tables over.

Draco knew, of course, that the healing charm wouldn't help. He knew that his father had tried it on himself when Draco was just a toddler. It seemed that Draco was such an unpromising child, his father wanted to have more sons in the hope that one of them would be acceptable. But then he had discovered the blood curse.

Draco often wondered why it never occurred to anyone before that there may be a curse, since the last several generations of Malfoys had only produced one child, invariably a son, but then again, the Malfoys weren't known for wonderful loving families. Most of them just wanted one son to carry on the name and were happy when that happened, and didn't question their luck. Many of the Malfoys before the curse took effect only had one child, when their first happened to be a boy.

Reid was the only living blood relative that Draco knew of, besides his parents and his mothers' sisters, and Draco realized that he really ought to mention that before Dumbledore pressed that cloth soaked in murtlap oil to Reids blisters and they started bleeding.

"Wait, don't!" Everyone turned to him as he jumped out of his seat and snatched the cloth from the Headmaster. "That's just going to make it worse."

"What do you mean, Mr. Malfoy? Do you know what has gone wrong with the counter curse?" Dumbledore looked at Draco down his long, crooked nose.

Draco shifted his weight from one foot to the other and toyed with the cloth. The oil made spots on his sleeves and he tossed it onto the tabletop. He really didn't want to announce family secrets to the whole group, but after a few moments of silence, he really didn't see an alternative.

"There's nothing wrong with your counter," Draco finally said. "It's just that Garwin won't be carrying the same exact curse that the other three were."

"And what curse is he carrying?"

"An older one, passed down through Malfoy blood." At this pronouncement, there was a collective look of shock, complete with a gasp from Hermione.

"Of course! You look as though you could be brothers, and you let it slip that you had ancestors named Garwin, and I really ought to have put it together then, but I wasn't thinking at all, being in a rush to leave for Hogsmeade, as it were."

"Why the hell is my curse different?"

"It's just that... Well have any of you ever taken a look at the Malfoy family tree? I'd guess not, but if you did, you'd notice that our family has pretty much always been having only one child, a son. It's really only through marriage that we have family at all. But several generations ago, there was a twin birth, a boy and a girl. The girl married into the Garwins, making you the only blood relative I've ever met, aside from my parents.

"I don't know how the twin's happened, only that it's not happened since that I'm aware of, and that both Garwin and I carry the Malfoy curse. And if I'm not wrong, that's where your Travers got the inspiration for his curse. They're so close that Snape probably just missed the tiny differences. He probably was doing the analysis on one of you other three, and just did a quick comparison of all four samples."

"And what of these differences?"

Draco expelled a breath. "I'm not sure of all of the details, but I know that it's not possible to treat the effects of trying to remove the curse. The first thing that'll happen is the burning, then it'll form blisters, but if you stop what you're doing, they'll heal and not leave a mark. You've seen what the healing charm did, and the murtlap oil would've started them bleeding, and if you tried to stem the blood flow by any magical means, it would've intensified. My father nearly died, and it was only the fact that he passed out from blood loss that saved his life."

"Can't imagine a man like Lucius Malfoy going through all that just to have another child. Wouldn't have taken him for the family sort." Ron said offhandedly.

Draco shot him a glare that would've peeled the varnish off the wooden desk tops. "It's not that he wanted more children, it was that he wanted to replace the first miserable failure." Obviously, there was no love lost between father and son. "Lucky for me, it occurred to him not to kill me before removing his curse, in case it didn't work. He figured that even such a weak heir as myself was better than no heir and the end of the Malfoy line." Ron reddened and scuffed the toe of his worn trainers on the stone floor.

"So I'm just gonna have to let these things heal on their own? I can't even use my own powers to fix them?"

Draco shrugged. "I don't understand how your powers work, but I don't think I'd chance it."

"And I second that opinion, Mr. Garwin. From now on, we'll be more careful in the comparing of the blood samples, to avoid similar mishaps in the future. I shall escort you to the hospital wing to have Madame Pomfrey dress the wound. As for the rest of you, it's nearly time for dinner, and I daresay you'll want to clean up a bit first." They all looked down at themselves and for the first time realized that the boys were dirt-streaked and sweaty from the game they were playing earlier. Only Hermione looked presentable, and even she was pushing her hair back from her forehead, wishing for a tie-back.

"Yes, Professor, we'll head back to our dorms and change," Harry said. He pushed his seat back under the table and Ron followed suit. Dumbledore left, Reid trailing behind him, and the other's quickly followed, ready to be free of the potions dungeon.

* * *

"Ouch! Son of a bitch!" 

Tyler groaned and rubbed his eyes. "What's a matter?" He sat up and looked at Reid across the bedroom.

Reid was standing there bare-chested as he pressed his hand to the bandages covering the blisters. From between his fingers, Tyler could see a bright red blossom against the white cotton. "Shit. I'll go get...someone." Tyler threw on some clothes and raced out of the room.

Reid sat down on the edge of the bed and waited, seemingly forever, until Tyler came back with Dumbledore, Caleb and Pogue. A few minutes later, Madame Pomfrey came in.

Madame Pomfrey peeled the sopping bandages back as gently as she could while Reid hissed in pain. Dumbledore quickly conjured a dish and she dropped them in. She opened the medical bag she had brought along and used some clean bandages dipped in water to clean Reid's chest.

The blood wouldn't stop flowing, but with most of it off, they could see that the blisters had all burst. "What happened, Mr. Garwin?"

"When I was changing clothes, I didn't even think about it. It hurt, and I Used." Reid shook his head. "Then right away it started bleeding. Draco wasn't shittin when he told us what would happen."

Madame Pomfrey pressed more clean bandages against the wounds and applied pressure. Soon, the bleeding slowed and she was able to redress the blisters.

"You'll have to be more careful in the future. You've lost quite a bit of blood and I don't think we should risk a blood-restorative drought. It may start the bleeding all over again and I'm not sure it would clot so quickly next time." Indeed, Reid was looking paler than usual and was leaning against one of the bed posts.

Her job finished for now, Madame Pomfrey packed her bag and bustled out. Dumbledore stayed long enough to summon breakfast for the boys to be brought to their common room, so that Reid could rest for a while longer before it was time to begin the day's classes.

* * *

A/N: First off, let me just get down on my knees and apologize for the super-long delay. I was having computer problems, and got busy, and then just got out of sync with writing in general and didn't get much done. But now I have a new computer, rented and watched the Covenant a few times, and I feel ready to get a few chapters out fairly quickly. 

The Welsh countercurse, translated through an online translator basically means 'Allow God to choose if more or a daughter.' Not the most imaginative of spells, and it certainly looks better in Welsh.

If you remember the Latin curse from the last chapter, The Insquequo Curse, I offered a small cameo for whoever got it right. The proper translations (or at least, the translations I got) are as follows:

Insequequo- Until

Insquequo vos es adultus- Until you are of age

Haud , permissum lemma have is iam- No, let them have it now.

Again, not very imaginative, but...well, I knew I was gonna have it in another language anyway.

Only RedRogue made a guess at it, and her try was pretty close (actually, it was almost exactly what my translator spit out at me when I put it through Latin to English, only with a few words off), so RedRogue, if you'd like to offer up another character name, I'll work it into the fic. Male or female, it doesn't matter!

Thanks to all my reviewers, who spurred me on through my period of writers' block: RedRogue, skysgirlforever, valaarien, Aligiah, SweetRocks, GuardianOfthebrokenhearted, Angellinn, animefanqueen, Purple Raveness, mackie, Lovebuggy, dracosman, Rogue21493, reid is hot, annatari.the.writer, avidswimmer09, Jeannie-Redd, Marah, and kcjadesolo.

And especially thanks to those who added me to their favorite and alert lists! The stats on this one is astronomical (for me- I know some of your stories counts could kick my counts ass). As I'm looking at it right now its 8,599, which is about 8 times what my second most popular story has. 30 of you have added this to your favorites list, and 44 of you have put it on alert lists. I have 119 reviews, and it's a part of 4 different c2s.I'm totally blown away.

Thanks, everyone!

R&R!


	13. 11 Ereditare

World Enough

Chapter 11- Ereditare

_

* * *

_

Seven cloaked figures crept down the darkened hallway, wands at the ready. Their faces were obscured by their deep hoods, but by the way they moved, it was obvious this wasn't their first combat experience. The rain pelted the tin roof of the small structure, effectively covering their footsteps. A sudden flash of lightening briefly illuminated the dark blue rug, casting long, eerie shadows from the window panes.

_A soft creak and a muffled shuffling as the offending foot was quickly removed from the loose floorboard. The entire group froze, and then, when it seemed they would be undiscovered, they began to move again. Their objective was apparent; to reach the closed door at the end of the hall. Why, was not yet clear._

_They would never make it._

_The door slammed open with the force of a gun shot. The old, worn hinges gave way, and the door fell at an odd angle. All seven men, for they were, in fact, all men, threw back their hoods revealing their grotesque metal masks._

_They raised their wands and began firing spells and whatever was in the room returned fire. The thing in the room was so obviously more powerful than the Deatheaters that it was almost comical. Almost. _

_One by one, they fell to the floor, burned alive or twisted beyond recognition. After the first three went down, the remaining four began to retreat, backwards, back from where they'd come. The retreat was useless, however, because the man, the thing from the room stepped out into the hallway._

_Another flash of lightening from a window behind him silhouetted him against the faded floral wallpaper, and his face was chillingly human. But his eyes, his terrible, monstrous eyes, were black and cold, empty of anything that was ever alive and good._

_The Deatheaters were beyond fear at this point, and beyond help. This man with the empty eyes was upon them, and the last thought of the last Deatheater was of the rain, still hammering against the roof._

_The man stood over them and laughed, exhilarating in his complete victory. Crackles of power danced on his fingertips, waiting, pleading to be let loose again. From the stairs that the Deatheaters had ascended, came a man with a pale, distorted face and a large snake. "Very good," the Voldemort hissed. "Your disssplay of power is breathtaking. Even my trained men could not defeat you in a ssurprissse attack. Yesss, you will be more than a match for our enemiessss, Chasse, more than a match."_

_Voldemort and Chase smiled at one another, as Nagini slid across the cooling bodies on the floor._

"Harry! C'mon, mate, please! Wake up, Harry, wake up!" Ron was shaking him hard and frantically calling his name, and someone was screaming. It was a hoarse, desperate cry, and as Harry slowly became aware of the world around him, he realized that the screams were coming from him. He was lying on the floor in between their beds, with his legs tangled in the sheets. He was shaking, and his pajama shirt was stuck to his skin with cold sweat.

Ron was kneeling beside him, with the end of his wand lit up. The red-head shifted his weight back onto his feet and gave Harry room to reach for his glasses. Once he could properly see, Harry noticed three other faces peering out from behind their bed curtains. "Harry," said Ron, "Are you alright?"

Harry swallowed, and shook his head. "We've got to talk to Dumbledore, right now." Wordlessly, Ron stood and pulled on a robe and stuck his bare feet into his trainers. They left the dorms, and the other three boys looked at one another, and then decided to return to sleep. Such happenings were practically a nightly occurrence when one roomed with Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived.

* * *

"And he sent us right back to bed! Can you believe it? 'Go back to bed boys, things won't look so dire in the morning light,'" Ron mimicked Dumbledore. "Is he bloody daft?!"

"Now you're beginning to see thing my way," drawled Draco, from where he was reclining in an armchair. It was Sunday morning, and the group had gathered in the Covenant boys' common room to discuss Harry's latest dreams. They had been happening more and more frequently, and now they were beginning to become more violent as well.

As far as they could tell, Voldemort had been testing Chase's powers against the Deatheaters, most likely in preparation for an attack. An attack on what, they weren't quite sure, but since Voldemort was involved, it couldn't be good.

And Chase had apparently been powering up somehow, as well. From what Harry described, the American boys said that Chase should be very visibly showing the effects of aging, but he looked just as young to Harry as he had in the first dream, and as young as the rest of them. Either Chase and Voldemort had found a way to counter-act the aging, Chase was using a glamour spell, or he was siphoning the power from somewhere else. The glamour spell was the least likely, as holding it in place would be a constant power drain. It was equally likely that they had managed to counter-act the aging, something Professors Dumbledore and Snape hadn't even made headway one yet.

But where else could the power be coming from?

Hermione and Tyler were flipping through some musty old books they'd found on the shelves. She had remembered something she's read once about certain magical objects that could be used to amplify the power of the wizard possessing it, and was looking for more information on those objects. Tyler was trying his best to help. Ron and Pogue were playing a round of wizards' chess (Ron was winning by rather a lot, and Pogue was becoming quite frustrated), and Harry was repeating for the ninth time what happened in his dream. Reid and Draco were doing quite a bit of nothing, besides offering up the occasional bit of snark and sarcasm.

A few moments later, Hermione slammed her book shut with a loud sigh of disgust. A cloud of dist billowed out. "Nothing! A fat lot of nothing. I'm tired of looking in books today. Let's go outside." She looked at everyone.

Everyone looked at her, wide-eyed. Hermione was _never _tired of books. It went against all the laws of nature that they'd come to rely on. Hermione being tired of books was like the sun being tired of rising in the east and the tides being tired of turning.

"What? I'm perfectly capable of having interests other than books, and sometimes I do like to rest my eyes a bit! Honestly! You boys do like things other than Quidditch, right? Why am I not allowed to be multi-layered?"

"Okay, Mione," started Harry. "We can go outside. What did you have in mind?"

"Let's go see Hagrid. Since I dropped Care of Magical Creatures in 5th year, I hadn't been seeing as much of him."

"Right," agreed Ron. "But let's stop off at the kitchens first and get a basket for lunch. I don't fancy dining on Hagrid's rock cakes again."

Dobby was more than happy to comply with Ron's wishes for a picnic basket, but while they were on the way back from the dungeons, Draco suddenly stopped. "Wait, what the hell am I doing? I can't have a bloody picnic with a bunch of sodding Gryffindors! I'm a Malfoy, for Merlin's sake." He spun and ambled off in an opposite direction, muttering things about 'brainless gits' and 'ruined reputations.'

Everyone else shrugged, and carried on towards a sunny spot between the lake and the Forbidden Forest.

Once there, the group found a nice spot on a wide, flat rock. The surface of the rock had been warmed by the sun and was a nice contrast to the cool April air. From there, they could see the Quidditch pitch, and occasionally, a player on a broom would rise high enough to be seen above the stands. The yellow and black of their Hufflepuff uniforms made them look like bumblebees.

Hermione leaned back on her hands and sighed. "Isn't it nice out here? The sun is shining, birds are singing, everyone's homework is finished ahead of time. Nothing could be better." The boys all shared a look behind her back. Homework? None of them had cracked a book since Friday afternoon. They'd all be copying off of one another after dark.

They all sat in silence for another few moments while Hermione basked and the boys put away at least three sandwiches apeice, then Harry pulled a pack of Exploding Snap cards from his robes. Hermione scowled at them, but soon enough they were contentedly absorbed in a game.

After three rounds and several singed fingertips, someone said, "Can we join in?"

The boys looked up to find four familiar girls standing at the edge of the rocks. Sammy, Anna, Angelique and Lana.

Reid grinned at them. It'd been a few weeks since he really had the chance to talk to any of the British girls, and it'd been almost two months since his date with Clarissa before he was attacked and brought to Hogwarts. He was definitely overdue for some serious flirting. "Sure. We're always happy for the company of beautiful women."

He scooted over just slightly, and Anna climbed up and sat down so close beside him she might as well have been sitting on his lap. Following Anna's lead, Angelique settled herself right onto Pogue's lap without invitation, not that he was complaining, mind, and Sammy kneeled next to Tyler. She gave him a wide, bubbly smile and pulled a book out of her pocket. It was orange and had a cartoonish picture of a boy with black hair and a dragon on his shirt. Across the top read 'Ranma ½.' Tyler grabbed it excitedly. 'Awesome! Volume 24, the one where Ranma faces the eight-headed dragon."

Sammy nodded. "Yeah, it's a favorite of mine. I like it because on the last page Ranma and Akane hold hands." She giggled a little bit, and Tyler smiled at her. Hermione got a sour taste in her mouth, and she turned away.

Now facing the Quidditch pitch, she watched as another team crossed the lawn carrying their brooms. The Hufflepuff team had disappeared from the sky. Must be Slytherin, she thought absently. Draco hadn't mentioned it, but members of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw teams were on the rock with her.

Harry, Ron, and Caleb were setting up a new round of Exploding Snap, but Reid and Pogue were too busy carrying on with the girls to pay attention. Pogue was tucking a stray piece of Angelique's brown hair behind her ear. Reid was much worse- He had actually scooted himself to the far edge of the rock, facing away from the rest of them. Anna was straddling him, and they were kissing with such intensity that neither one of them even noticed when Trevor the toad hopped right past them to get to the mud beside the lake.

Tyler, she was happy to note, was behaving with much more decorum, as he, Sammy, and Lana joined in the game.

Across the lake, Hermione saw the new Quidditch team take to the sky and begin doing laps. She watched for the silver flash of Draco's hair from between the tall stands, but never saw it. Mentally shrugging, she placed her attention back on the game.

The card that Sammy had just laid down exploded. With a small shriek, she jerked her hand back and laughed. "I'm terrible at this game!"

"That's okay. I'm no good either," Tyler said.

Sammy pouted. "But you just learned it a few weeks ago. I've been playing for years!"

"Yeah, but it plays just like-" Tyler cut off as three cards exploded, sending little shocks up his fingers. "Dammit! That's always what happens." Now without any cards left to play, he was out of the game. He grabbed the manga from his lap and flipped it open. Sammy (who was still in the game with two cards left) leaned close to him to point something out on one of the pages. Tyler grinned at her.

Angrily, Hermione looked back at the pitch. 'What is wrong with me? I need to get away from all of these boys for a while. Maybe I should go do homework...' While she was thinking, she was absently watching the Quidditch players again. Two of them were using bats to hit a bludger back and forth at one end, and two more looked like they were practicing some sort of move where one would suddenly swing themselves underneath of their broom, and toss the Quaffle to the other. Hermione didn't know much about the sport, but she suspected that this move might be useful if a Chaser from an opposing team was flying between them.

A tall boy slammed the door to the locker rooms open and was walking quickly towards the castle, broom in hand. From his stride, Hermione could tell that he was angry. Perhaps he had just been thrown off the team?

But the four players in the air showed no sign of problems. They were carrying on as usual. Draco, the Slytherin captain, might run his show with an iron fist, but she suspected that even he didn't inspire enough fear to keep the rest of the team from gawking at any problems and arguments that might arise.

As the boy neared the castle, the path he was walking on drew him closer to her, and she realized that he was still wearing team robes. If he had in fact been thrown off the team, he definitely wouldn't be still wearing them. He would've changed in the locker room.

Beside her, Ron swore as he, too, was out of the game. Lana was winning, still holding two cards to Harry and Sammy's one. A sudden spike of jealousy ran through Hermione as Sammy shook her head at something Tyler had said to her. Her blonde ponytail swung wildly.

The boy across the lake had been walking in the shadow of the castle since the path turned to come nearer to the lake, but now he stepped into the sunlight and Hermione registered surprise as the bright blue color of his robes came into focus. He was the Captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.

"Sammy," Hermione said sharply. "Isn't that your team practicing over there?"

The blonde girl's head jerked in the direction of the field. "Oh, my God, Angelique, what time is it?"

Angelique was busy whispering something into Pogue's ear and didn't hear Sammy's question. "What?"

"Oh, God, we're late for practice. Michael's gonna _kill_ us!" Since 4th year, Sammy had been a Seeker, and Angelique had been Chaser. Michael Corner, had been chosen to be Captain at the end of last year, and he had it out for the two girls ever since Angelique had dumped him for Ernie Macmillan a week after Valentine's Day in 6th year. Sammy tossed her remaining snap card into the discard pile, where it summarily exploded.

Angelique hastily extracted herself from Pogue's lap and the two girls sprinted towards the castle's south entrance, presumably hoping to avoid Michael until they were on the pitch.

Anna had looked up (pausing to breath perhaps?) when her friends had hopped down from the rock, and said, "Well, I guess I ought to get goin, too. Reid?" She jumped off the side and waited, expectantly.

Reid turned to the rest of them, his hair mussed. "See you later, guys!"

He, too, jumped off the rock. Throwing an arm over Anna's shoulders, he sauntered off.

"Same old Reid," Caleb muttered. "Sun's startin to go down. I guess we all ought to head in."

"Hermione? Do you want to go back to the library with me?" Tyler smiled at her.

For once in her life, the library no longer held the same appeal, especially after she'd just watched Tyler with Sammy. What kind of girl did he think she was? Did he expect her to allow him to jump straight to her when his first choice was busy? She narrowed her eyes. "No. I don't think I'll go to the library anymore tonight."

She stood up and stepped carefully across the remains of the game, not wanting to set any of the cards off under her feet. Without looking back, she walked quickly to the castle, straight up to the library where she checked out several books to do her research in the safety of her own four-poster bed. Because being Hermione, she had wanted to return to the library, but she had to sort out what to do about Tyler first.

The boys had all sat on the rock and stared after Hermione for a few long minutes before the first drops of rain fell from the sky. Caleb stretched out a hand and all the snap cards stacked themselves up and zoomed into to before the water ruined them. Harry grabbed the now-empty basket and they ran inside quickly.

Not far behind them was the remainder of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team.

* * *

Early the next morning, Caleb, Pogue and Tyler were doing some quick homework revision before classes, when a knock sounded at the door. They looked at one another. Dumbledore and all their friends had the password, and usually just walked right through.

Caleb went and opened it, revealing a young boy wearing Hufflepuff robes. He looked to be maybe a third or fourth year. "Can I help you?"

"My sister asked me to drop this off to someone here." The brown-haired boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and handed Caleb a rolled up bit of parchment clutched in his fist.

"Thanks," said Caleb, accepting the parchment. The boy nodded, and turned to walk down towards the Great Hall.

Walking back to the table, Caleb unrolled it.

"Who's it from?" asked Pogue.

"Aine. I didn't realize she had a brother attending here." Caleb scanned it quickly. "She needs to cancel our sessions for the next three days. She's taking a trip to meet her father in Ireland. She says it was a last minute thing, she just got an OWL this morning, and she'll see us as usual after lunch on Thursday."

Pogue reached for the note, and scanned it himself. "Huh."

"Huh, what?" Reid asked, finally awake and making his way down.

"No classes with Aine until Thursday," said Tyler. "Which means I don't have to finish these essays now, I can do it after Potions." The 7th year Potions class was their second class of the morning, and all 4 boys were enrolled in it. Usually, they went to see Aine afterwards, to be tutored on Charms and Transfiguration.

It was all book work, of course, since Dumbledore said it wasn't safe for them to risk aging just to practice. But Aine would help them to memorize the incantations, and demonstrated them all. The magic would come easier, she had said, if they _thought_ the incantation, instead of just what they wanted to happen. Without telling anyone they were doing it, sometimes the boys would sit in their common room and practice _Using_ with incantations, and it turns out that she was right. It was roughly half as tiring as it used to be.

"Great, then," Reid said, grabbing his book bag from the floor by the bookcase. "Let's go to breakfast. I'm starved."

The rest of the boys laughed, and Pogue said, "Man, you're _always_ starved."

At the top of the main staircase, they were joined by three Ravenclaw girls. Anna and Angelique immediately latched onto Reid and Pogue, and Sammy fell into step beside Tyler.

"How did it go with Michael last night? He throw you off the team?"

Sammy blew out a breath. "No, thank goodness. IT started pouring, so he called practice. We're gonna have extra laps to do next time for being late, but we got lucky. If we'd missed practice, he definitely would've thrown us off. He hates Angie, and I'm guilty by association."

Entering the great hall, Angelique and Anna split off to the Ravenclaw table, but Sammy continued on with the boys to the Gryffindor table. "Hermione," she said when she reached it. "I wanted to say thanks for reminding us about practice yesterday. We'd've been off the team if we'd missed it."

Hermione blinked at her for a moment, then gave a terse reply. "You're welcome."

"Well, I'll see you in Divination, Tyler." Sammy smiled at him as she walked away.

The Ipswich boys took seats, and Hermione shoved her chair back. The legs grated loudly against the stone floors. "I'll be in the library," she said to Harry and Ron over her shoulder as she stalked off.

"What's got into her?" Tyler asked.

The other boys just shrugged.

* * *

Hermione threw her bag down on her favorite library table and began pulling books out. '_Borqueine's Best Blood-Based Banes_' and '_Jinxes and Hexes for Multiple Generations_' were the only two books remaining in the library that she hadn't looked through yet, not including the three other Curse and Blood books that had disappeared sometime before she had reached that end of the shelf. She had asked Madame Pince, but the severe librarian had told her that some hooligan must have shelved them wrongly for a joke, as she had no records of them being checked out.

She flipped open _Borqueine's Best_ to her page marker from last night, and began to read about slow-acting poisons. She was quite certain that none of this would help much with their research, but she was afraid if she only skimmed the books instead of actually reading them that she would miss some small mention of something that might really be important.

Across the table, someone dropped a black book bag and Hermione jerked her head up. Of all people, Draco was sliding into the seat across from her. Her eyes quickly danced around the library, wondering what he was up to.

"Don't worry, there's no one else in here. Not even that hag librarian."

Automatically, Hermione defended the woman. "She's not at all a hag. She's a very nice lady, who is very devoted to the written word."

"Yeah, whatever. I'm finished with these, and thought you might like to have them. I've marked a few... Applicable pages, but when you bring it up to Dumbledore, just pretend you found it on your own." He pulled three books from his bag and tossed them onto the table, face down. She could see a scrap of parchment marking a page in the one on top.

Without another word, he turned and left. Hermione picked up the first book. It was one of the ones that had been missing from the shelf. She flipped it open to the page marker. It said _'__Chapter 9: Curse-Based Heredity__'_

_The sons of the House of Black will always have black hair, and the Weasley line will always be redheads. Those born unto the Longbottom clan will be blond, and a Malfoy will always have eyes of grey, fair skin, and blond hair. Why is this?_

_These old, pureblooded families all carry a _Heredity Curse_, tailored for their family needs. Many generations ago, before the self-updating charms were perfected for the Family Books and Tapestries, families needed a way to prove their heritage._

_Feodor Prokofiev, Russia, is credited with the invention of the curse in 39 B.C., as a way to pass on musical talent to his children, however the first major usage of it did not come until 38 A.D_., 100 years later._ Roman Emperor Caligula requested that the curse be placed on all of his royal concubines to ensure they inherited all looks from their mother, so paternal lineage could not be proven. His chief warlock, Drago Ruggiero, modified the Prokofiev version to the version that we can still see traces of today. _

_After Caligula, if became custom of the upper-class to make sure to pass on a favorite family trait. Coloring was often the trait of choice, however certain families had been known to pass on height, bone structure, and birthmarks. The Higgins patriarch chose to pass on his fingerprints to all of his children, and then coded the family manor to accept the fingerprint as a password to get through the wards. The line of female warriors called 'Slayers' (last of the line was killed in 1297- see 'Mythical Heroes' for more information) were identified by a specifically placed mark on their necks._

_The Wizards Council classified the _Heredity Curse _as a Class V Excessively Restricted Usage Magic in 1376, after it was discovered that two conflicting curses caused severe birth defects if not taken care of before birth. The Cordone's and the Grysones both carried Heredity Curses regarding the bone structure of the nose. Annalise Cordone' married Fabrian Grysone and when a child was conceived, it was born with no nose at all. Upon further research, it was discovered that a set of twins confounds the _Heredity Curse_, and it will not apply to both babies. By applying a Class IV Often Unallowable Magic, designed to cause a woman to bear twins, the problems regarding the birth defects could be circumvented. The eldest twin would receive the trait from his fathers curse, and the younger twin would receive the mothers trait._

_The usage of a spell classified as a class IV or above is only allowed when the proper forms have been filled out in triplicate and an appointment is made with a Lower Councilman to discuss the reasons for the spell. If the reasons are approved and the forms are filed, a councilman will apply the spell. Class III spells should be used with reasonable caution, Class II spells are safe for adults and school children under the direction of a teacher, and Class I spells are universally allowable._

Hermione blinked, and then read through the text again. She'd not heard of the _Heredity Curse_ before, and thought that strange. Surely she would've come across such a widely used spell in her previous research on blood spells, and you'd think Ron might've mentioned it, seeing as how his family was one of the ones detailed in the chapter as carriers of the curse.

She flipped to the inside of the front cover, found it blank, and flipped to the back. There on the last page was a short notation by the author, including the year of publication- 1599. Hermione furrowed her brow. According to that, the book was over 400 years old, but it certainly didn't look it, and it certainly didn't read like it was.

Deciding to think on it later, she switched to the second of Draco's books. This one had three markers, but was completely useless without a translator because it was written in what appeared to be Russian. The only thing she could make out for certain was a penciled notation in the margin '_curse can be modified for __ALL__ possible traits'_. She didn't recognize the cramped handwriting, but she hypothesized that it must be Draco's.

The third book was not a library book (meaning that the third book was still missing, she realized with annoyance). It was a slim, clothbound book that looked like a diary, or journal. It was well-worn, the delicate blue fabric faded to the point that the floral pattern was almost completely lost. She turned it around in her hands. Whoever this belonged to, Hermione was sure it had been well-loved.

She slowly opened the front cover, revealing the first page of script. It _was_ a diary. And it was written in French. Hermione flipped to each of the three page markers, scanning down the page until she found the word _'Ereditare' _on each one.

_Ereditare._ That wasn't French, she knew, but was sure it looked European. She could read French okay, and scanned the rest of the page. It spoke of a difficult birth, resulting in two sickly babies. Twins, a boy and girl.

Hermione paused for a moment, and flipped back to the second marker. The entry on that page was about a spell taking effect, and discovering that she was, in fact, expecting. The entry on the first marker talked about her husbands wish for an heir and a meeting with a wizard from 'L'Italie', Italy. Hermione skimmed quickly over the mystery witch's assessment of the Italian wizard (very handsome, though much too short, and smelled strongly of cabbage). It seemed that the Italian was going to place a spell on the woman, without the Ministry's consent. Her husband was paying handsomely for it, because they needed to counter-act the '_Ereditare'._

Hermione skimmed a few more pages while she mulled over the unfamiliar word. The witch was quite a bit flighty, she decided, and reminded her strongly of Fleur Delacour, the part-Veela French witch who had competed against Harry in the Tri-Wizard Tournament a few years back. The girl was now dating Bill Weasley, much to Mrs. Weasley's displeasure.

Suddenly, something occurred to Hermione. Part-Veela, French, wrote a diary that somehow Draco Malfoy had in his possession. Quickly, she shoved her things haphazard back into her bag. Malfoy had told them days before that once during his family tree, there was a twin birth, a boy and a girl. She knew that Malfoys family originally came from France, she had come across that in various bits of reading over the years, but had always dismissed it as unimportant.

But now there was a diary to go through in the privacy of her bedroom. In her trunk, she had a book that contained a replicating spell and a translating spell. She would replicate the diary, translate it to English, and find out what Draco and Reid's ancestor could tell her about yet another one of the blood curses that the boys carried. Perhaps this long-dead witch could reveal a secret to reversing the spell that even Professors Snape and Dumbledore couldn't come up with.

Such was her excitement over the diary, Hermione completely forgot to go to her classes all morning, and thus received her first three detentions, ever.

* * *

Okay, there's been a huge gap between this chapter and the last, and I'm sorry. My comp crashed, and then when I got it fixed... I was just totally out of the 'writing' groove, and the prospect of completely re-writing chapter 11 again was...daunting, to say the least. It had been so long (my own comp was out of commission for several months) that I had pretty much forgotten what was going on, so I had to re-read all the chapters I had posted on here, and re-do my general outline (which had also been lost in the Great Crash of 07).

Thanks so much to everyone who's still here reading this, and who have read it in my absence.

To get myself back in the 'groove' of writing, I did do two shorts and posted them previously. One is a Hermione-centric HP piece, and the other is from the Firefly/Serenity fandom (the first piece I ever tried for that).

Besides this one, I am working on about 5 other fics - 1 Covenant, 2 HP, 1 Ranma ½ (which may never get finished- I've been writing it off and on for almost 4 years now and it's only about 50 pages in) and 1 new Indiana Jones (oh, my God, I love the new movie! I've seen it twice already!), but I have decided to not upload anything until I'm finished, or nearly finished with a fic, so as to avoid these lengthy delays in the future.

Please R&R!


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